Free?
by tashie1010
Summary: SEQUEL TO TRUSTED? Kagome's daughter, Kei, is special. She is a half demon, but has priestess powers. People are after her to use her powers, and someone's ordering people to take Kei away from her family, but who is this person? Rated T for few chapters
1. Chapter 1

Free?

**Ok, my sequel to Trusted? So I hope it goes okay. It's in the first person just because I wanted to see if it would be easier that way.**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunatly, I don't own Inuyasha... :'( **

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I ducked the blow to my head easily, but forgot about the other person, as he lunged at me and we tumbled hard to the ground, our backs crunching under our weight as we hit the solid earth. I got winded pretty badly, with the guy landing on top of me, but I quickly rolled over and slammed my fist down on his back, in one swift motion. I heard him 'umph' and I straightened up, looking down on the guy on the floor. 

'You give up yet?' I asked him, my green eyes catching the sun as the gleam came across my eyes. He looked up at me and smirked, looking a little bit over my shoulder. I turned my head the slightest to my left and saw a shadow cast on the floor. I dodged the other guy, as he fell on the floor, but getting back up just as quickly. He smirked at me, and he helped they other guy get up from the floor. I had a bleeding cut on my forearm, and a few cuts and bruises, but I wasn't going to back down now, not after getting this far. I looked from one guy, to the other. I took a step back and took a run and jump up to them, ready to beat the hell out of them, wanting to victory for myself, when I heard a voice.

'Dinner's ready!' I heard my mum shout, as I was in mid air. I stopped and fell straight down onto the floor. They two guys raised their eyebrows at me and smiled.

'But mum! I'm in the middle of a fight here!' I told her, getting up from the floor. I saw my mum come out of the house and stare at me with those big brown eyes.

'Kei, get your butt in here now!' She shouted over at me, as she put her hands on her hips, glaring at me, with my two elder brothers at her side. I looked back over at the guys I had been fighting with, but they turned away and headed over to the village which was near our home.

'Hey, wait, where ya going?' I called after them. They both turned round, smirking.

'Looks like the little girl has to go in for her din dins.' One of them tells me. I scowl and make a fist. They both walk off, talking and laughing.

'You cowards, you're just afraid that I might beat you. Yeah, walk away!' I shout after them, making my voice echo. I turned around and saw my mum looking very angry at me, tapping her foot on the ground, still with her hands on her hips.

'Why can't you be like any normal girl and pick flowers and help me with the cooking, instead of picking fights with the local boys?' She asks me, as I walk up to the back of the house. I saw my brothers smiling at me and I rolled my eyes, walking through the door and pass my mum.

'Because flowers bore me, I hate cooking, and plus, its fun to beat them up.' She tells her mum, walking through the house. 'Well, I would have beaten them, if you hadn't interrupted.' I tell her over my shoulders. I hear her sigh.

'Why can't you just be like normal girls?' She says, walking into the small kitchen with my two brothers following her like lost sheep. It was my turn to sigh.

'Because…I'm not a normal girl.' I say, following them, walking into the warm and delicious smelling kitchen. I smelt a lot of different smells, but the main one was the over powering, mouth watering smell of chicken, and a lot of it. I inhaled the delicious aroma and made my way over to the bubbling pot of the chicken that my mum was cooking. She swatted me away and I watched as my brothers helped my mum by cutting up vegetables and different bits of meat.

'I know you're not a normal girl, Kei, but that doesn't mean that you can't just act normal, at least.' My mum tells me, giving me her 'serious' look.

'And can you tell your father that dinner's almost ready, I think he's in his study.' She tells me. I roll my eyes at her and walk out of the kitchen, and down the corridor. It was true, I wasn't a normal girl. I was a half-demon, a half Inu youkai to be more precise, half human, half dog demon. It's kinda cool, but it annoys me when people think that they can just play with my ears or my tail when they feel like it. That's one of the reasons why I like fighting, because I have to stand up for myself, and not let people walk all over me and touch my dog parts without my permission. I nodded at a couple of servants as they passed me in the corridors, and I came to a stop at a certain door. I opened it without knocking, knowing it will only annoy him, and walked into the room, striding in as though I was the one that owned the place. I saw him, sitting at his big wooden desk that had little mountains of paperwork on, writing something as his face showed confusion.

'Hey dad.' I say, going over to him as he worked. Her father, Lord Sesshomaru as some called him, was a powerful guy, and sometimes very cold, especially to people that he didn't know, or didn't like. He was either busy with work, or had to go out on an outing with the Imp, Jaken, who she hadn't seen for a couple of days now. Her father looked up from his work and gave her a look, one which he almost always gave her, an annoyed one.

'Kei, why don't you ever knock?' He asks me, in a tone I would describe as annoyed yet amused. I tilt my head at him and smile.

'Because I don't like knocking, I like to make my own entrance.' I tell him, smiling even more. He smiles a bit, and then shakes his head at me.

'What is it now? Have you gotten into trouble again?' He asks me, raising an eyebrow, waiting for me to answer.

'No…well yes, but that's not why I'm here.' I tell him, sitting on the side of his desk, even though I knew he hated me doing it.

'Then why are you here?' He asks me, getting slightly annoyed.

'Mum told me to tell you that dinner is almost ready.' I tell him, trying to look at what my father had been writing, but he slides it under his arm, out of my reach.

'Okay, tell you mother I'll be done in a minute.' He tells me, waiting for me to leave. But I sit there, perched on his desk, looking at the amount of paperwork he had to do.

'Don't you ever get bored, sitting in here nearly all day?' I ask him, as he put some papers away.

'No, because this is what I have to do.' He tells me, getting up from the table and walking out of the room, me walking right behind him. 'You know, for a 9 year old, you should be playing outside, not interrogating me.' Yeah I'm 9, and although I may be young, I understand a lot of stuff, and my mum says I get it from dad.

'I would be, if it weren't for mum calling me in for dinner.' I tell him, smirking. He smiles back and we walk down to dinner, which my mum loves cooking, and not letting all of the servants do everything, because she doesn't like it.

After dinner, that was brilliant due to mum's great cooking skills, I walked around the grounds, settling under a calm and peaceful spot underneath a tree. The sun had just started setting, and I watched it fade into the distant, its glorious colours filling the sky. I saw my two brothers sitting against the back of the house, just staring into the distance. I often wish that I could go to the other villages, to meet some other kids my age, and play around, other than be bored. The only times I get some fun, is when the local guys from the villages come here, and challenge me to fights, which I love to win. If you haven't noticed, I'm quite competitive, I guess being the youngest, I kinda annoys me when people think that I'm weak, and underestimate me. I gaze off into the slow sunset, wishing that I could do something other than sit here, waiting until mum calls me in to go to bed. But I sit there, wondering what normal people's lives are, without a demon for a dad and a priestess for a mum, and having two demon brothers look down on you because you're weaker in fighting then they are. I sigh, thinking back to a couple of weeks ago, when I had managed to pin down one of the boys from a village, and for a second, I wondered why I fight, why I use fighting as an excuse to vent my anger about being weak, and in that second, the boy figured out that he had an opportunity and took it, flipping me over the top of him and crunching my leg in a painful position. Afterwards, my oldest brother had told me that that was my weakness, being half human, and because of that, I will feel pity, sorrow and emotions that demons shouldn't feel when attacking.

Don't get me wrong, I love being half demon, half human, due to the cool fighting techniques, the quick reflexes, the ultra cool sense in smell because of my little dog ears, but one of favourites are my swishy little tail, that I love to flick the air with. And I thought about that, about how I was half a demon like my half-uncle, my ears twitched and I heard rustling, smelling a scent that reminded me of a beggar. I looked around the trees surrounding the back of the large garden, and spotted movement in there, a figure weaving in and out of the bushes until coming out into the open. My eyes scanned the person that had emerged, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw my two brothers get up and stand, wary of this person. It was a guy, with grey hair that covered only the top of his head, a face that reminded me of a rat, and scraggly clothes that looked like he had run through thousands of forests, getting tangled and making his clothes all ripped. He looked around and his eyes widened when he saw me sitting against a tree. He scurried over, a hunch on his back and a hurry like a beetle. I stood up from the tree and looked at my brothers to see what they thought about this guy. I realised that Katsuro had run into the house to get our parents whilst Daichi run over to me, standing beside me. He was tense and he knew that being the oldest, he had to look after me and Katsuro.

'Do you know who this guy is?' I ask him, only turning my head slightly, as they guy watched us, after slowing down when he saw Daichi come over.

'No, never. But there's something wrong, he seems more powerful than he looks.' Dai tells me, standing protectively. I looked over at the back of our house, hoping that either mum or dad would come out and get the guy that seemed to inch nearer to us. Even though me, Dai and Kat had demon blood in us, we weren't the best in fighting and it was easy for bones to break, even though Dai and Kat were full demons and I was half. When I looked back at the weird hunchbacked guy, I saw his eyes, blood red, that made me have shivers.

'It's you…it's actually you. I've found you….now master will be pleased.' He said pointing his finger beyond Dai and at me. I stuck beside my brother, wondering what the hell he was going on about. I might have had demon blood in me, but I was still a little kid and felt the emotion of scared and frightened running through my veins. I wondered why he was pointing at me, and saying all that stuff, when I heard a shout and I looked over to see both my mum and my dad running out of the house, over to the deranged guy that had come into the garden. I saw Kat at the doorway, looking worried at the guy that was here. I saw my dad run over to the guy, in a flash, whilst the weirdo tried to run away. But let's face it; he's no match for Sesshomaru. He groaned in pain as my dad picked him up by his neck and pushed him against the nearest tree I rage and fury.

'Who the hell are you and what are you doing at my home?' He shouted at the guy, hid voiced hard and full of anger at this man who had trespassed. I saw him wince in pain as my dad's nails dug into his neck, making a trickle of blood run down his neck. He was obviously in pain, but he still smiled his creepy smile, with his horrible messed up teeth.

'Hehe…Kurowa…but master told me that you would be angry, oh yes, but as long as I know where _she_ is, master will reward me, oh yes. Then Master will rise up and kill you…hehe, yes yes…' He muttered, looking over my dad's shoulder, and straight at me, his chilling red eyes staring straight into my gold ones. Again, I felt chills, but I felt my brother stiffen beside me and my entire family look at me, my parents looked terrified at what he said. My dad looked back at the guy he was pinning against the tree, and slammed him harder against it.

'What the hell do you want, and who is your 'master'?' My dad asked him, fury spitting off of his tongue. My mum came over to me, standing protectively in front of me as well. I was confused, why did he come here to find me? Who was his master? The man called Kurowa just giggled in a strange way and let my dad pin him harder against the tree, blood soaking through his scruffy clothes.

'Master will get you…oh yes, and he'll take her away, make her his, make his plan work. And Master will be happy with Kurowa and will let him stay with him after he kills all of those people, oh yes yes…hehe, but first, master has to get her, and I have to bring her to him, oh yes yes.' He said, his eyes flashing with happiness, joy, wonder and pleasure as my dad stared in confusion after what the guy had just said. My mum and brothers looked confused as well, and I just stood there, frozen in fright and terror after what he had said. My mind was racing with so many thoughts, but I couldn't think properly, due to Kurowa's eyes glancing at me, making me feel slightly sick at his gaze on me. I saw anger flash before my dad's eyes, as he looked at Kurowa and me, and growled at the guy he was pinning against the tree. This made him stop smiling but he widened his eyes but he still smirked. My dad looked confused, but tried not to show it. Then the guy, Kurowa, put his hand in a pocket in his clothes and pulled out something small and black and looking a lot like a tiny pebble. He dropped it on the floor and a cloud of smoke engulfed us, making us cough and splutter, as my dad groped the air that had been the guy, but he had vanished, just like that. Everyone looked around to see id he was lurking somewhere, but he seemed to have vanished into thin air. My dad looked at me, and I saw something in his eyes that made my stomach drop. Fear.

'We have to tell you something, Kei.' My mum told me, as we sat down on the soft cushions in one of the rooms. Dad had ordered some of the servants to be on full alert and he ordered Jaken (who Sesshomaru ordered to check up on Rin, now around the age 16 and living in a village somewhere south) to round up some people to guard the castle whilst he stayed with us, occasionally giving me looks of worry. I sat there, between my two older brothers, in front of my mum and my dad, wondering what they wanted to talk to me about.

'You know that you're half demon, half human, don't you? Well, because you have my blood mixed with demon blood, it's somehow strengthened the powers of a priestess and a demon and you have abilities that aren't to be awakened until you're 15, because that was the age that I was when I came here, into this world.' My mum explained to me. I sat there, thinking about what she said, about powers and blood and strength. I wasn't confused, not much anyway, as I knew about my mum's family, our family, in the future. It was hard to understand at first, but I know my mum has a mum and a little brother in the future and can get to them by going through a well that I remember going to, waiting for her to come back from a trip there. My mum and dad looked at me, and so did my brothers, I just stared at my lap, not looking at anyone, but nodding to show her I understood what she was saying.

'Because of the power that you hold in you, there are some people that want the power, want to use you or even harm you to get it.' My dad said, carrying on the explanation. I looked up at him, wondering if he was still worried. I remember what the guy had said, as my dad had pinned him up against the tree.

_Master will get you…oh yes, and he'll take her away, make her his, make his plan work. And Master will be happy with Kurowa and will let him stay with him after he kills all of those people, oh yes yes…hehe, but first, master has to get her, and I have to bring her to him, oh yes yes._

It all started to make some sort of sense, even if it did sound weird. So some guy had sent this person to get her, and to bring her to him? I continued looking at my parents, wondering what else they were going to tell me.

'The only problem is that we have no clue what so ever who that guy's 'master' is, but that won't stop us from protecting you.' My mum tells me, looking me in the eyes. I think over what I've been told, about my powers strengthening when I'm 15, which seemed ages away, and about people wanting my power.

'Which brings me to something which me and your father have been talking about, after we thought about when you become 15, and you get those powers.' My mum tells me, looking at my dad, who just stared into the distance. I look at my mum and my dad and wonder what they thought about. After a couple of seconds, my dad looked at my mum and then at me.

'We think it would be better if you went and lived with your grandmother.'

**So, what d'you think? It's gone past midnight as I write this, so my eyes are getting blurry, so I'm sorry if there are any spelling mistakes or things don't sound quite right. But I wanted to put this up so I can see if it's worth updating. Thanks a lot for reading! XD**


	2. Chapter 2

Free?

**2****nd**** chapter and I hope its okay! From now on, I'm going to be doing it on 3****rd**** person, thanks to ****InuTaiyoukaiGalOfDarkAndLight's review.**

**I don't own Inuyasha or any characters, but Kei is from my imagination and so are alot of things XD**

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Previously:

'_We think it would be better if you went and lived with your grandmother.'_

Kei just sat there, the words sinking into her. Her grandmother? The one that lived in the future? But, how? She was confused, very confused. Her mum and dad just looked at her, waiting for her to say something. But she couldn't, the words were somehow stuck in her throat. Kagome, noticing her daughter's confusion, spoke up.

'Listen, Kei, you have the same blood as me, the powers of a priestess are in you, so that means that you can go through the well and into the future. So we think it would be best to…to live in the future, with my mum, your grandmother.' She tells her daughter. Kei looks at her mum, then at her dad and then sighs.

'So… does that mean that I won't be able to see you again?' She looks into her lap, waiting for the answer. Kagome and Sesshomaru glance at each other, while Kei's brothers look at their little sister. After a couple of seconds of horrible silence, Kei heard her dad talk, his voice warm and comforting, unlike the cold and stiffness he gives to everyone.

'I know it's hard to think about, but it's the best thing for you. Your mother and I love you so much, we don't want this, but it's the only way to keep you safe.' He tells her, trying to comfort her. Kei looked up from her lap and at her parents.

'So, you just want me gone?' She says, trying hard not to cry, even though she had a lump in her throat. Her parents look shocked at her question, and her mother leans forward and takes one of Kei's hands in her own.

'Of course not, Kei. We hate the idea as much as you do, but it's the only way to make sure no one can hurt you.' Kagome tells her daughter, tightening her grip on Kei's hand. Both of Kei's brothers look at their sister, the scent of salty tears filling their noses. Sesshomaru also smells the tears, whereas Kei felt them, as they slid down her cheeks and under chin.

'W…when do I have to leave?' She asks her parents, trying not to choke on her words. Both of her parents exchange glances and then look at her.

'As soon as possible.' Kei heard her dad tell her. This time, Kei didn't hold back on the tears. They spilled down her face, the drops making met patches on her red kimono. The room was silent apart from Kei's soft crying, and Kagome pulled her daughter into her arms, not believing it's come to this.

'Shh.' Kagome says, trying to soothe her young daughter's cries, but it failed, as Kei only cried harder. Her dad and brothers looks on, a lump in their throats, as they try not to cry themselves. Then Kagome stands up, still hugging onto her daughter.

'We'd better go, before it gets too dark.' She tells Sesshomaru, who nods at her and stands up as well. Kei pulls away from her mother and wipes her eyes.

'We're going now?' She says, watching as her dad and two brothers walk out of the room, getting ready to leave.

'The sooner the better, Kei.' Her mother tells her, tears spilling down her cheeks as well. Both mother and daughter hold onto each other as they stand on Sesshomaru's cloud, with Daichi and Katsuro, and get ready to leave their once peaceful life behind.

How had it come to this, to sending her daughter off to the future to live with her mother? That was what Kagome thought as she got off of the cloud and stand on the firm ground, with her daughter still clinging to her. She looks at her daughter, and she thought back to 9 years ago, when she had given birth to her children. Dai and Kat had been no problem, even though they had been her first born, but she had felt something, like someone had poured warm water _inside_ of her, when she had given birth to Kei. She had felt relief when she had given birth to her daughter, but at the same time, she had wanted to keep her inside of her, to keep her away from the dangers in the world, as though someone might have come into their cave when she had given birth, and snatch her daughter away from her. Maybe it was a mother's protection over her only daughter, or maybe something more. But whatever it was, when she had held her baby girl in her arms and her two boys had transformed into their true form, she had never thought that she would be looking at her daughter, 9 years in the future, and be sending her into her future, to stay there. If she had known what was to come, she would have asked her mate Sesshomaru to make sure anyone plotting to take their daughter would be killed, so that Kagome wouldn't have to do this, what she was doing now. But she knew, deep down, that giving up her daughter would be the only thing to save her, even if this memory would haunt her for the rest of her life.

'We'll wait here.' Kagome heard Sesshomaru say, getting off of his cloud with his sons. He then looked at his daughter, her pure golden eyes staring straight into his. He felt his stomach drop, like he had been stabbed multiple times, but it was only because he knew that he would never see her again. He knelt down and looked at her, and he remembered the times when she had smiled, laughed, cried and screamed. Images flashed through his mind, but he tried to blank them, it only making it harder for him to look at his daughter as he prepared to send her away, to live somewhere else, and to never see her again.

'Kei, my only daughter, but you're such a tomboy. And I'm glad that you're not like normal girls, otherwise you wouldn't be you, my little girl.' He says, looking at her watery eyes. She blinked and a silent tear fell down her face. He wiped it with his thumb, her soft skin underneath his made his heart tremble. He then pulled her towards him, hugging her so tightly he knew it was slightly hurting her but he couldn't let go, not wanting to, not ever. He saw Kagome looking at hem, her eyes watering too. Kei wrapped her arms around her father's neck and hugged tighter, a death grip keeping them both together, before they pulled away. She smiled weakly at him, and she lifted a hand to his face, wiping away a single tear that fell from his eyes. Sesshomaru stood up and looked down gently at his daughter.

'I'll always love you.' He tells her and she nods at him, before hugging his leg tightly. She then moves around her father and looks at her two brothers. They were all 9, but somehow, Kei felt as though they were 10. They both looked at her, their eyes watering too, and Kei flung her arms around the two of them, hugging them towards her. Both Daichi and Katsuro hug her tightly, never wanting to let go of their little sister. They had images of her running around with her arms wide, like she were flying, squealing in delight, splashing in the hot spring and rolling around laughing. All 3 looked at each other, Kei giving them a faint smile, which she got 2 in return.

'We'll miss you sis.'

'Yeah, just don't forget us, okay?'

She shook her head at the last question, looking into both of their eyes.

'I could never forget my annoying big brothers.' She tells them, giving them a last hug before walking over to her mother, who stood beside the well.

'You ready?' Kagome asks her daughter, who looks at her with watery eyes, and nods slightly. She takes Kei's hand and they both stand on the well that was covered in thick green ivy. As Kei stood there, she took a last look at her dad, and her two older brothers and they stood there, staring back at her with faint smiles on their faces and watery eyed, before looking back at her mum.

'On 3, okay?' She tells me. Kei nod at her and squeeze her mother's hand.

'3…2…1…' She says, and they both jump into the ivy filled well.

'Ow.' Was all Kei could say, after landing awkwardly. She had been so surprised at the swirls of colour after jumping into the well. She had been shocked at her surroundings that she had forgotten about everything else. Kagome held her daughters hand tighter as she realised that they were now in the future.

'Are you okay?' She asks Kei, looking down at her little girl, who looks up at her.

'Yeah, I'm okay.' Kei tells her, before looking around at the well that had suddenly changed. The thick ivy was replaced with new grey stone that was easy to climb, as both Kei and Kagome climbed up and out of the well. After getting out, Kei took a good look at her surroundings. They were in some sort of shrine, with light brown wooden walls and a red tiled roof. There were red hangings neatly around the walls and Kei saw her mum smile.

'Look's like mum's cleaned up.' She said, looking around the tidy wooden building. After looking around, both mother and daughter walk up the wooden stairs and each take a deep breath, before opening the door to the shrine.

Sunlight poured into the building, making them cover their eyes. The sun was so bright it made Kei squint, but she couldn't help but blink away the bright immediate light and take a look. She was surprised to hear all of the weird noises, all the strange sounds that she could hear overcome here, and she winced. Kagome noticed her daughter wince at the noise level, obviously because of her sensitive ears, and she held her hand tighter, and they both looked at the place in front of them.

There was a tidy little house on the right, painted a startling white with a black roof, a flowers littering the outside, and the huge tree in the middle, a small picket fence surrounding it. Kei heard so many noises that she had never heard before, smelt smells that she had never smelled before. All of these new things, confusing her, making her stand closer to her mum. She saw things in the sky, metal things, leaving white pillows of air behind in the dazzling blue sky. The sun shone brightly, twinkling and astounding the world beneath. Kei and Kagome step out of the shrine and gaze at the building and the sacred tree.

'Is this…where you lived?' Kei asked, looking around at the beautiful place. Kagome nodded at her daughters question and continued to look around. The place hadn't changed that much, the house had been painted and it looked a lot cleaner, but other then that, everything looked pretty much the same. Then both Kei and Kagome heard a door open and shut and they both look over at the house, which they could see a person coming out of. Kei noticed her mother tense beside her and she looked closer at the person that had come out of the house. It was a woman, she looked around 40, with black hair and grey streaks, brown eyes and was wearing a white top with a blue flowery skirt, and a white apron, and both of them watched as the woman watered the flowers outside the house. Kei saw her mum move from beside her and walk up to the woman, before running to the woman and throwing her arms at her. Kei just stood there, but she reluctantly walked over to the two women hugging each other and smiling, laughing and talking.

'Oh my god, your back! I thought you would, just for a while, and here you are. Oh, haven't you grown! You look so beautiful, so gorgeous.' The old woman said, hugging Kagome tighter. Kei figured that this must be her grandmother, as the two hugged and laughed.

'Look at you! Grey hairs, huh? You still look 30.' Kagome said, pulling away and laughing. After smiling at each other, Kagome's mum noticed the little girl standing behind her daughter. Kagome looked at her mum, then at her daughter.

'Mum, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Kei. Kei, this is your grandmother.' She says, watching Kei's expression. As her daughter stood there, shy to the introduction, Kagome's mum swooped in and hugged the life out of Kei, laughing.

'Aw, look at you, you look so much like you mother.' She says, hugging her tighter. After pulling away she realises for the first time that the little girl had got dog ears, and a little dog tail, that was swishing. That's when she squealed.

'Awwww. Wow!' She said, looking her granddaughter up and down and smiling. Kei's ears tweaked for a second, but she smiled at this woman who likes to scream and hug people. But then she remembered that she would have to stay here, in this time, for ever, and never see her family again. Kagome saw her daughter's face fall, and decided hat it would be best to get it over and done with.

'Uh…mum? There's something I need to tell you.' She says looking seriously at her mother, who stops squealing at her granddaughter and looks at her daughter.

'What is it?' She asks, looking confused, her happy expression still on her face, but this sudden atmosphere made her worried.

'I need to leave Kei here, with you.' She says, no daring to look at her daughter, but carried on looking at her mother, who looked shocked.

'But…why, is there something wrong?' Kagome's mum asks her daughter, looking worried at her daughter then looking at her young granddaughter, who just looked at the floor.

'It's a long story…' Kagome said.

It wasn't as long to explain, but the awkward silence was killing her. Kei just stood there, listening to her mother explain everything to her own mother. Afterwards, there was silence, apart from the noisy city surrounding them.

'Oh…god…' Was all Kagome's mum could say. Kagome got up off of the steps that she and her mother had sat on to talk about the whole situation.

'Yes, I know. My only option is you, and I know you can keep her safe, and raise her to the fullest.' She says, as her mother stands up and looks at Kei, who was leaning against the shrine.

'O-Of course I'll look after her, raise her up here.' She tells her daughter, after digesting all that information.

'That's great…thank you so much.' She says, giving her mother a huge hug, trying hard not to cry, after all the emotions were running through her body. She pulls away and her mum kisses her on the cheek.

'You look after your two boys, okay? And don't you worry about Kei, she will be safe here. This world now is becoming noticeable to demons, there are even half demon children in this world. I know is sounds weird, but a lot has happened in these years. I just hope that she'll be okay, and so will you.' Her mother tells her, before letting her walk over to her own daughter.

'Kei, I need you to be strong for your grandmother, she will look after you and keep you safe. I know you, and I know you can be brave, but I want you to stay here, and live a long and happy life, okay?' Kagome tells her daughter, who looks up at her with her big golden eyes, even though they were watering. Kei nods at her mum and jumps up and hugs her around the neck, all the emotions she had felt come out of her, clinging onto her mother. Kagome closed her eyes as tears fell down her face and she hugged her daughter tighter, never wanting to let go, but she knew that longer she stayed, the harder it'll be to go. She pulled away and looked at her daughter.

'I love you, so much, you know that right?' She says, holding her daughters face in her hands. Kei nods again, her own tears sliding down her face. Kagome gives her a slight smile and kisses her on the forehead, before stepping back and brushing a hand through her hair. She walks over to the shrine and gives one last look at her daughter and her mother, before walking in and jumping into the well, her tears dropping onto the ground as she went back to the feudal era. Kei lets her tears fall from her face as she looks at the shrine in which her mother had just gone through, her mother who she would never seen again, and her small drops of salty water drops to the ground.

**Well, what do you think? I hope it's detailed enough. Next chapter will be when Kei is 14, just so you know, okay. Again, I hope you all like it, and please review as I don't know whether to carry on or not! XD**


	3. Chapter 3

Free?

**Hope you like it XD**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha XD**

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'Kei, get your butt out of that bed. You're going to be late, again.' The familiar and angry voice of Kei's grandmother called up the stairs as she finished up breakfast. She heard her granddaughter groan as she woke up to the loud voice and she rolled her eyes. Her granddaughter, little Kei, will be 15 tomorrow. 

'Ugh.' She groaned, getting up from her comfy bed, and seeing her alarm clock telling her that she was going to be late if she didn't get ready soon. She looked around her room, the dark reds and gold's reflecting the sunlight that was pouring in from the open window. A slight breeze welcomed Kei as she sat up in her bed, her black dog ears twitching at the movement in the air and she yawned. Another day, another person to annoy, she smiled to herself. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, yawning again and stretching her body. She walked past the crumpled dirty clothes that littered the floor and went to her wardrobe. Opening it, she looks at the familiar colours of her jeans, tops and shorts. She sighed, wondering why her school couldn't be like others, and not have a uniform. But no, the people at the school just had to enforce them to wear the uniform. She took her uniform out and got changed. Looking at herself in the mirror, she sighed again. The colours were red and black, and the uniform was a sleeveless sailor school uniform, with a skirt and white socks. Kei had to admit that she didn't look _too_ bad, but seeing as it was summer and they still had to wear the black, it got annoying and hot. She sighed again and grabbed her school bag from the corner and went downstairs. That was when she heard the clock in the kitchen chime, telling her that it was 8:20, and she only had 10 minutes to get to school.

'Told you that you were going to be late again. You should wake up earlier.' Kei heard her grandmother tell her. She was standing over the sink, washing up her breakfast dishes. Kei saw a piece of toast, lying on a plate on the table and grabbed it, thanking her nan, and giving her a quick peck on her cheek, before rushing out of the room and putting her shoes on.

Oh god, she was going to be late, again! If she was late today, she was going to have to stay behind for a detention, and that wasn't going to happen. If only she could wake up earlier, but for some reason she could never do that. As she ate the piece of toast she had taken with her, she rushed down the sidewalk, cursing herself for not waking up earlier. If she wasn't at school in time, then she was going to have to stay behind with Mr Nakamura, one of the strictest teachers at the school. Her black shoes hit the ground and she started at the people in front of her, who were looking at her oddly as she tried to rush. Geez, why do these people have to stare at her? Her bag was bumping on her back as she ran through the crowded street. She saw glimpses of people from her school, their noticeable uniform making them stand out from the crowd. Over the road were some people from her school as well, as she looked closer she saw her two best friends, Amaya and Haru, walking with a crowd of others that was in her class. She smiled and went to cross the road when several things happened at once: her ears twitched and alerted as her tail sent a shiver up her spine, someone grabbed her arm from behind, pulling her back away from the road and beeping car swerving out of the way of her. She blinked and watched as the speeding car veered off into the distance. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest as she realised that she would have been hit by that car, if it hadn't been for the person that had pulled her away. She then realised that that someone was still holding onto her arm and turned backwards to see a guy, a rather cute guy, with short brown hair and blue eyes.

'Hey, didn't you hear that car coming?' He asked her, in a subtle yet concerned voice. Kei opened her mouth, but shut it, due to not knowing what to say. Hadn't she heard it? She did have better-than-ordinary hearing, due to the fact that she was a half dog demon, but that only made her more curious as to why she hadn't heard the car. The guy looked at her and she felt her heart beating even faster, as he looked down at her with those deep navy eyes.

'I…uh…um…' Was all Kei could say, as she looked at him. After a second of looking into his alluring eyes, she realised that everyone around them was looking at the commotion. Kei saw her friends over the other side of the road looking at her, and she saw her best friend smile at her, noticing the cute guy beside her friend.

'Even though you're half demon, you didn't realise?' He asked her, his face turning irritated yet amused. Kei raised her eyebrows at him and put her hands on her hips, turning into her 'I'm not a little girl; I can beat your ass' look.

'Listen you; I wasn't paying attention because I had something on my mind, okay? And as for me being half demon, you got a problem with that?' She said to him, making her tone sound controlled and protective. The guy raised one of his eyebrows at her sudden attitude, but smiled at her. Kei was taken back at his reaction. That was when Kei realised that the guy was in the same uniform that the guys at her school wore, black and red t shirts and trousers. She wondered if he went to her school, but she couldn't remember seeing him there.

'No, I don't have a problem with it at all; in fact I think it's kinda cool.' He said, casting a glance at Kei's ears and tail that was swishing behind her. Kei carried on looking at him for a moment, noticing the people still looking at them.

'Right…okay then.' She said, before turning back around and looking both ways of the street, making sure no other cars were coming, and walking across it to her friends. As she joined them, she heard the guy call out to her from across the other side of the road.

'See you at school then.' Kei looked at him as she smiled at her, and she walked off with her two best friends on either side of her.

'What the hell was all that about?' Amaya asked her, as soon as the others were out of earshot and walking off. Haru rolled his eyes at his friend and looked at Kei.

'I…I don't know. I was just about to cross the road to get to you guys, when he pulled me backwards. The next thing I know, he's asking me why I hadn't heard the car, even though I was half demon.' Kei tells her friends, looking annoyed at what had just happened. All three of them walked on the sidewalk, with others from their school scattered around the pavement as well. Amaya looked at her best friend, who was like a sister to her, and smiled.

'Yeah, well, you've got to agree he is kinda cute.' She tells Kei, giving a slight smile. Haru hears this and rolls his eyes.

'Geez, Amaya, are you trying to hook Kei up yet again?' He asks her, putting an arm around Kei who was in the middle. 'Kei needs a guy that is strong, protective and smart. I'm pretty sure after today's events, he's not going to be on Kei's 'possible boyfriends' list.' At this it was Kei who rolls her eyes.

'I don't have a 'possible boyfriends' list, thank you, but your right, that guy is a complete idiot, thinking that he can scrutinize me because I'm a half demon, geez.' She said, getting even angrier. That was when she noticed the school looming up ahead, and the swarms of students filing into it.

'Ugh, we're going to be late.' She told her friends, starting to break into a run.

Yep. She had a detention. But what added to her annoyance was the sneer she got from the vice principle, Mr Nakamura as he told her that she had to stay behind for half an hour. She groaned and walked into her classroom, and walking to the back where her seat was. Amaya and Haru sat in their seats; Amaya was in the seat next to Kei at the back, while Haru's seat was next to the window, in the middle row. Kei sat down and sighed. Why did these things always happen to her? Always late and getting detentions. It was like someone hated her in another life and wanted her to pay. She rested her head on her desk and waited for class to start. The bustling noise around her made her ears twitch and her tailed flicked at the familiar voices. Girls squealed as they looked at magazines of famous boys and guys jeered as other guys went to talk to some of the girls. Amaya noticed her best friend's silence and move closer to her desk.

'Hey, Kei, don't be so upset about it. If you want, I'll stay behind and wait for you.' She told her friend. Kei lifted her head up from the desk and smiled at her friend.

'No, it's okay Amaya. I know you have to go to your Aunt's today.' She told her, before turning away. Amaya smiled at her friend and nodded, before looking out of the window next to her. Kei rested her head on her arms as she looked around the class. The door opened and in walked the teacher, Mrs Hamada. She shushed the students and told them to get to their seats, which they did. She stood at the front of the class and smiled.

'Good morning students. Today we have a new student, who transferred from Saito Academy.' She told the class, who listened to her. Then the door opened again and everyone turned to see a guy walk in and stand next to Mrs Hamada. Kei's eyes widened at the guy, who just happened to be the guy that had pulled her away from the road only a few minutes ago. Why the hell did he have to be in her class? The guy looked around and when his eyes fell on Kei, he smiled at her. She didn't return his smile, she only scowled at him.

'Everyone, this is Ryu Yakamoto.' She introduced him to the class, who just continued to stare at him. Kei noticed some of the girls fidgeting in their seats, trying to get his attention, some flicked their hair; other's fluttered their eyelashes and smiled at him. The guys were looking in jealously at this guys who seemed to grab the girls attention. It was pathetic. Kei took a good look at the new guy, as she stood at the front. He had a good face, seeing as some of the guys at this school have a face that makes girls squirm, but he seemed to have no problem in the looks department. He had one of those nice smiles, one that makes a girls heart miss a beat and insides somersault. Geez, why did she have to think about this guy like that, even though she hated him after what he had said to her? Kei saw Haru turn in his seat and look at Kei in a questionable glance, Amaya did the same. Kei looked at the guy at the front as he looked around the classroom.

'Now, Mr Yakamoto, please take a seat.' The teacher told him, before turning her back on the class and writing on the board. The guy, Ryu Yakamoto, carried on looking around the class and saw that the only spare seat was right at the back, next to Kei. He smirked and walked to the back of the classroom, passing desks. Some of the girls looked at him from behind as he walked past them. Kei watched him as he walked over to the desk right next to her and he turned to face her.

'Hey again.' He said to her, giving her a sly smile. She rolled her eyes at him, no wanting to start a conversation, and stared at the front of the classroom, hoping that he would leave her alone, which he didn't.

'Hey, why the attitude? You should be grateful to me, you know. I did save your life.' He tells her, resting his head on his hands and glancing over at her when the teachers back was turned. Kei looked at him and scowled again.

'Saved my life? You're kidding right? All you did was drag me back, when the car was obviously going to swerve anyways.' She tells him, whispering so that the class didn't hear, although she was getting annoyed at him. He gave her a smirk.

'Aw come on, give me a break. It's my first day, you know.' He told her, giving her a casual look. Kei looked away and at the board, knowing that if she got caught talking she would have to stay behind in class as well.

'I don't care, new boy. Just stay away from me, got that?' She told him fiercely, before ignoring him completely and getting on with the work that they were set. Ryu smiles as he watches her work and sees her ears twitch as she notices him watching her. So he looks at the work he was set to do and gets on with it, looking ever so casually at the cute girl next to him.

* * *

'Oh come on, the guys a complete idiot.' Kei tells her friends, as they start talking about how cute and charming he is. The girls roll their eyes at her outburst. 

'It's alright for you Kei, he likes you already. Everyone likes you.' One of her friends tells her as they eat their lunch under the Sakura tree out in the grounds. Kei raises her eyebrows at this remark and shakes her head.

'No, you're wrong. Not everyone likes me, that new guy doesn't.' She tells her friends that were sitting around her. When they all look at her curiously, she returns to eating her lunch as she looks around the grounds. There were little groups scattered around, all eating and drinking and laughing, and Kei watched them. She was envious of her friends, but she wouldn't tell anyone. Her friends would think that she was crazy if she was envious of them, but Kei felt so jealous watching them. They didn't have little dog ears on top of their heads that made them stick out in a huge crowd, and especially the black swishy tail that small kids try to grab and play with. When she looked at her friends, she knew that they would never have anything annoying like that, they blend in. Most of the time, Kei loved it, being the centre of attention was one of her great parts. But occasionally she would get the weird looks, the whispers, the dirty looks ass he walked down the road, or out shopping with her Nan.

'Kei? Kei? KEI!' Someone called out her name, getting louder and louder. Kei snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her friends who were now looking at their friend worryingly. Amaya smiled weakly at her friend, wondering if she was okay, and Haru had stopped halfway between eating his lunch. The others, Suki, Yoshi and Keiji were wondering what was wrong with their friend, as she had sadness in her eyes. Kei snapped out of it and gave her friends a smile.

'Hey, what's the matter? We should hurry up and eat our lunch, otherwise the bell will go.' She tells her friends, as she continues to eat her lunch that her Nan had packed for her. For a second, her friends looked at her sudden change of emotions, before following her and eating the rest of their lunch before their break was over.

'So are you excited about tomorrow?' Amaya asks her best friend, who smiles at her and nods.

* * *

It wasn't the dreary lesson that made Kei feel all gloomy, or the fact that she was paired with Ryu, but the knowing that she was going to have to stay behind in school for half an hour. Damn not waking up early. Kei saw, sour faced, as she sat next to Ryu as he looked at her. 

'Are you going to help me or not?' He asks her, pushing the piece of paper towards her. Mrs Hamada had put everyone in pairs and gave them each a different project to work on for the week, and lucky for Kei and Ryu, they had been given the project of learning about Tokyo's past.

'Oh what a joy that's going to be, especially working with him.' Kei thought to herself, as she looked at the piece of paper. She noticed that Ryu was still staring at her.

'Listen, Yakamoto-kun-' She started to say.

'Call me Ryu.' He interrupted. She looked at him, but he just stared at her.

'Okay, Ryu-_kun, _I'm staying behind tonight anyways, so I'll try and research as much as I can.' She tells him. He looks at her, wondering why she was staying behind.

'I've got a detention, so I might as well try and get as much research done as possible.' She tells him, after he looks at her curiously. He gives her a slight smile, one which, irritably to her, made a shiver run down her spine.

'Okay then, I'll stay behind too.' He tells her, pulling the piece of paper back from her and looking at it. Kei stares at him in surprise to what he had just said.

'Uh…you're going to stay behind too? Why?' She asks him. He looks up from his piece of paper.

'So that I can help you with your research.' He told her, as thought it was simple, which it wasn't, well not to Kei anyways.

'B…But why? I can do it on my own, thank you! Do you think I'm incapable of doing research on my own?' She asks him, her temper starting to rise. His smile widens and Kei clenches her fists.

'I never said that, but judging by the way your acting, I suppose you could do with the help.' He relies to her, shrugging his shoulders.

'But I don't want you to stay behind with me, you'll only slow me down doing my research.' She tells him, noticing that Amaya and Haru, who were paired together, looking over at them. His smile fades for a second, before he gives her another smile.

'I won't slow you down, Kei-kun, in fact, I might speed you up.' He tells her, before giving her a slight wink. Several girls in the class see this and squeal at him, and the guys sigh at the girl's reaction. Kei just scowls and looks out of the window, trying hard to ignore Ryu as he tries to flirt with her.

'Now, I want you to clean this entire classroom, that will be your punishment for being late, and I hope you learn your lesson not to do it again.' Mr Nakamura spits at Kei, as he points into the classroom and smirks, before leaving her alone. It wasn't funny. The classroom that he told her to clean was a complete mess. There were doodles and smudges on the blackboard, chairs had been tipped over onto the floor and there were pieces of paper scattered all over the floor, not to mentions the splatters of paint on the tiled floor. Kei sighed, knowing that Mr Nakamura must have wanted her to do something horrible so that he could just annoy her, and boy was it working.

'Whoa. Seems like you've got a hell of a job to do.' A voice said, from behind Kei. She turned around and saw Ryu leaning on the wall, staring in the classroom. He smirked at her when she looked at him.

'Geez, get lost. Why don't you go do something useful, like the research?' She told him, whilst picking up the fallen chairs and bending down to get the pieces of paper. He smiled even more after she had said that.

'But I thought you said that you didn't need any help. _You'll only slow my down_, she said, but oh no, look what she has to do.' He says to her, in a cocky voice. She scowled at him, but carried on cleaning up. After a moment's silence, she heard him come over to her and help.

'What are you doing?' She asks him. He looks at her as he picks up the paper and helps put the chairs back in their rightful places.

'I can't bear to see you get all worked up over this little punishment, so I might as well be a gentleman and help you out. I mean, if that's okay with you, your highness.' He adds sarcastically, bowing at her. Kei couldn't help herself, but she smiled at him. Not a smirk, not a grim smile, but an actual friendly smile. And he smiled back. Kei thought to herself, 'He isn't as bad as I thought.'

**Hmm. So a new guy. Friend or foe to Kei? Review to tell me that I should carry on and you can find out in the next chapter. Just a little hint for you, Ryu isn't all as he seems :P Mwahahah XD Read and review all my lovely readers!**


	4. Chapter 4

Free?

**Hope that you like it so far XD And I'm sorry that I don't know Kagome's mum's name, so I'm just going to call her Natsuki. If anyone knows her name, please tell me, I appreciate it XD **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. **

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He wasn't as bad as she thought, as she picked the chairs up off of the floor and gets ready to clean the floor. She watched as he finished picking up the pieces of papers and helps get the chairs out of the way for Kei. She used the wet mop to quickly rid the floor of the paint splatters and put it back away in the store cupboard. Looking up at the classroom's clock, she saw that the time was 4:20, she sighed, putting her hands on her hips. 

'Thank god that's over.' She said, breathing in a sigh of relief. Ryu looks at her and smiles.

'Yeah, it is. Just don't go getting anymore detentions when we have to do research, okay?' He tells her, grabbing his bag off of one of the desks. Kei gives him a scowl.

'Well if you hadn't had put on a show before school, then I wouldn't have been late, and then I wouldn't have got detention.' She tells him, grabbing her bag from one of the desks and walking out of the room. She heard him come after her, his footsteps echoing in the corridor.

'What do you mean 'show'? I saved your life and you were being ungrateful.' He told her, catching up. She stopped walking and shot him a look.

'Ungrateful? You were making fun of my ears.' She told him, trying so hard not o hit him for being so callous. Ryu looked a little taken back at her comment, and she walked straight past him, brushing his shoulder. After a second, he rushed to catch up with her again.

'I wasn't making fun of them; I was just pointing out something. It's like I told you, I think they're really cool.' He tells her, stopping walking as well. She looked at him, wondering if there was a hint of lying in his voice, but there wasn't. She waited a few seconds before walking on.

'Well…whatever.' She told him. He smiled and shook his head.

They left the school grounds in silence. It was uncomfortable, yes, but it was better than Kei babbling on at him like some idiot, which she normally did if she was walking home with a guy, and a cute one at that. Ryu just smiled and tried not to laugh at Kei, who was trying to keep a straight face while walking beside him. She had been so angry with him over the whole incident before school that she now felt like a complete idiot. It was silence until they made it to the road that she had crossed this morning, before being pulled back by the guy standing beside her. Kei noticed him opening his already smiling mouth, ready to say something annoying and sarcastic.

'Don't.' She said simply, looking at him sharply. He smiled even more and looked ahead. Kei sighed and wondered if her Nan was going to yell at her again, for coming home later. Although it was about half 4, the sun was starting to set in the busy city and the glorious colours filled the sky.

'So…are you going to ask me how my first day was?' Ryu said, breaking the silence between them as they crossed the road. Kei looked at him.

'Okay, how did your first day go?' She asked him, wondering where he lived, because he was walking with her in the direction of her house. He smiled at her and looked ahead.

'Oh, it was good. Except getting accused in the streets by a girl about making fun of her being half demon, and then later staying behind with that same girl who just has to hold a grudge against me. Other then that, it's been pretty fun.' He says, trying to hide his smirk. Kei smiled slightly, as he said those words.

'Oh come on, I'm not holding a grudge, I'm just…I'm just…' She tried to finish the sentence.

'Stubborn.' Ryu said, finishing off her sentence. Kei looked at him and smiled.

'I wouldn't have said stubborn, but…' Kei started to say, before something made her stop. This dreading feeling at the bottom of her stomach made all her senses on full alert. She stopped walking and looked around, worried and somehow frightened. Not now, not here, she thought. But she could smell them, that recognisable smell that had haunted her for 5 years. She curled her hands into fists and she noticed that Ryu was looking at her, confused and worried.

'Ryu, go. Get away, quickly.' She said. He noticed that her dog ears were straight up, pointing to the sky, and her tail had stopped swishing, instead it was on full alert. But before Ryu could even ask Kei what the matter was, three figures stood over them, like eagles studying their prey.

'Well look what we got 'ere.' One of the figures said, in a low growling voice.

Before they knew it, Kei and Ryu were dragged into a nearby alley, slammed against one of the wells and looked down upon by those three intimidating figures. Kei looked worried and scared, but put on a brave face, whilst Ryu looked confused yet angry by these three sudden figures that have dragged them.

'Look Boss, it's that little half demon we heard of.' The one on the right said. Kei's ears pricked at the words but she stayed silent as she had her back to the wall. She saw Ryu look sideways at her but she didn't move, as she tried to think of something. The figure in the middle seemed to stand up straighter after what his friend had said.

'You're right. She's a little half cat demon.' The one on the right said. Immediately, Kei growled under her breath. It was her instincts, so she couldn't help it.

'No, this one's half dog.' The one in the middle said, as he looked down at Kei. She clenched her fists even harder and refrained from doing something she might regret later. She had to wait, had to make sure that they wouldn't hurt Ryu, or herself. But she knew what they wanted, knew why they had dragged her here, and she wasn't going to show that she was scared, even though her knee's felt weak.

'Yeah, you're right. She's even starting to growl.' The one on the left said, with a hint of laughter in his voice. Although Kei couldn't see their faces, she could make out that they were all guys, later 30's, and were wearing black trousers with white shirts. Ryu's hand found Kei's and squeezed it, and Kei was thankful of it. She knew that he must know what was going on, and she could tell by holding his hand, that he was scared too. She started thinking up a plan. So the one in the middle was the more important one, judging by his act and character, and they two at the side were just some sort of lame sidekicks, for whatever reason. The one in the middle moved forwards to Kei, and lifted her up by her school uniform top.

'A half dog demon, our Boss will like that.' He hissed at her, pulling her up off of the ground. Kei felt her legs dangle in the air, and as she was lifted up, her hand was wrenched away from Ryu's. She stared into the eyes of the man in front of her, as she managed to see his face. He was fairly large, with a fat face that was scarred in various places. His eyes were beady and his nose was crooked, and his mouth moved into a grim smirk when he looked at her, dangling against a wall, and his eyes darting towards her billowing black skirt. Kei raised her growl.

'Well, what do you have to say, dog-girl?' He said, his breath smelling like alcohol and cigarettes, making Kei want to be sick. But she clenched her fists, held her head level to his and smirked.

'Down boy.' She hissed back at him. And for a split second, he looked confused, that was before Kei's foot slammed into the man's 'most precious thing', and he dropped her as he fell to the ground on his knee's and groaned in pain. The two men standing beside him only had a second to think about what she had just done, before they lunged at her, but being half dog demon, she had the advantage. The guy on the right, the slimmer one, lunged at Kei while the other one, the chubbier one, lunged at Ryu. Kei took a step back and brought her fist swinging forwards, with as much power and force as she could manage, until it collided with the man's face. She heard a satisfying crunch as her fist collided with the guy's nose. The guy wheeled back in pain, doubling over as he clutched at his now broken nose that had crimson blood streaming out.

The smell hit Kei's nostrils like wild fire, and it took a lot of her might to not cough at the nearly overwhelming scent of the man's retching smell of blood. While the guy was clutching his bleeding nose, Kei glanced over at Ryu, who was now being advanced on by the chubby guy. Ryu looked at Kei over the man's shoulder and she tapped the man's shoulder. When he turned to her, she brought her knee up and sunk it into his gut, her knee crashing through his fat and plummeting into his lower stomach. Ryu was just about to thank Kei before they both turned at a groaning sound, and saw the middle guy, the one that had picked Kei off of the floor, he was now in a crouching position, and glaring at the two.

'Why you little half breed.' He said his voice low and in anger, as he lunged at Kei, who was off guard. Before she knew it, someone stood in front of her and then there was a crunching sound, similar to the one that Kei had heard when she had hit one of the guy's noses. When she looked closer, she saw it was Ryu in front of her, and he was knocked sideways due to being hit very hard by the guy. Once Ryu had been hit, the guy looked at Kei and gave her an evil smirk.

'Playtime's over, little girl.' He said before lunging again. Kei had a quick second to think, before dodging to the left, making the guy lunge straight past her, and once he was past her, Kei raised her foot up high enough, and slammed her foot down onto the man's back. She heard several cracks, and realising she must have broken at least a few ribs, maybe even more, she ducked and grabbed Ryu's hand and ran out of the alleyway. And they're running, through the streets and through the crowds, past curious faces, past shapes and blurs.

They ran until Kei noticed the familiar neighbourhood and slowed down her running, until she came to a familiar house. When she stopped running, Ryu noticed the house in front of them and he looks at it, studying it, whilst catching his breath.

'Is this where you live?' He asks, looking at the building. Kei catches her breath as well, but she finds it easier to breathe when under pressure or whilst running, maybe it was the demon side of her. She stood up straight and smiled.

'Yeah, this is where I live.' She tells him, looking over her shoulder to make sure those three guys weren't chasing after them with baseball bats, or worse.

'Nice place.' He says, before turning to look at Kei. 'Did he hurt you, you know, back there.' Kei looks at him, shocked at his sudden question.

'Uh…no…I'm fine, really. Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?' She asks him, wondering how he had taken that hit. He sighed and turned sideways, revealing a gash the size of a coin, with blood streaming down one side of his face. Kei gasped and cupped one side of his face in her hand and looked at the cut. She felt Ryu stiffen as she touched him, but she didn't do anything.

'Come inside and I'll help to clean that up.' She told him, letting go of his face and walking towards the house. For a moment, Ryu was too shocked at her gentleness as she had placed a hand on his face, but he shook his head and walked after Kei, to the house.

As he looked around, he saw that it was beautiful. There was a house, newly painted with flowers outside, and a huge tree that looked very old in the middle of the grounds, with charms on a string around it, and behind that stood a glorious building, that Ryu recognized as a shrine. While he looked around at the beautiful grounds of the house and the shrine, Kei walked over to the house.

'Hey, Ryu-kun, this way.' She calls over to him, smiling as he admires that place. He walks over to the house and smiles at Kei.

'This place, it's just…' He said, giving a last glance around the place before looking at Kei.

'I know.' She said back to him, smiling. He smiled back at her, before she opened the door and let herself him, pulling Ryu through the door as well.

'Oh my god, look at you!' A familiar voice cried, running up the hallway and taking a good look at the gash on Ryu's face. Kei groaned and took off her shoes, putting them next to the door along with the pair that was already there. Natsuki Higurashi carefully looks at the cut and pulls the boy into the kitchen, where they were followed by Kei.

'What happened?' Natsuki asked her granddaughter, who grabbed a soda and watched her grandmother.

'We were attacked walking home. I managed to get all 3, but one got up and lunged at me. Ryu here, stood in front of me, god knows why, and he got hit instead.' She tells Natsuki, looking at Ryu who was smiling now.

'I did it because you were caught off guard, and wouldn't have been able to doge it. And here I was trying to be a gentleman.' He said to her, rolling his eyes. Natsuki laughs and looks at Ryu.

'Don't worry about her, she's always like this.' She says, smiling at her granddaughter who shakes her head at the comment. 'Now, let's get you cleaned up.' Kei watches as her grandmother sits Ryu down and goes over to the medical cupboard, pulling out various objects such as antiseptic, wipes and cotton bandages.

'This might sting a bit, but it'll soon go, okay?' Natsuki said to the boy sitting down, as he nodded his head at her. Kei saw Ryu wince when her grandmother put the cloth of antiseptic against his cut, before he calmed his face when she cleaned the wound and wrapped a bandage around his head so that it covered the now cleaned wound. After she was finished, Natsuki put away the rest of the things and looked at Ryu.

'Well, at least that's out of the way.' She said. 'Would you like to stay and have something eat with us?' That made Kei snap out of her trance she had been whilst watching her grandmother take care of Ryu's wound, and look at Natsuki.

'What? Why would he want to stay?' She asked her grandmother, looking sharply from Natsuki to Ryu. Ryu smiled and stood up from the chair.

'That would be great, uh…' He said, trying to think of Kei's grandmother's name. Even though he knew Kei's name, he didn't know her last name.

'It's Natsuki, dear. Just call me Natsuki.' She said. 'And we're having beef stew, one of Kei's favourites.' Kei looked at her grandmother, unbelievably.

'But he doesn't want to stay. He might have better things to do.' Kei said, trying to get out of having this guy staying. Both her grandmother and Ryu look at her.

'Why? What would be wrong with me staying and having something to eat?' Ryu asks Kei, looking at her. Natsuki looks between Kei and Ryu, a slight smile spreading on her face, a knowing look in her eyes. Kei rolls her eyes and leaves the room, not wanting to get into an argument that her own grandmother was sure to back someone else. After Kei left, Natsuki looked at Ryu.

'Sorry about her, she's a bit temperamental.' She says, with a sly smile on her face. Ryu looks at the woman and smiles.

'Yeah, I can tell.'

It was one of those silences that she disliked, like she was being plotted against behind her back. That was what Kei thought as she sat down to eat her beef stew that her grandmother had made. She looked at Natsuki and Ryu, and wondered what they had talked about whilst Kei had been in her room.

'So, are you sure your parents are okay with you staying here for dinner?' Natsuki asks Ryu, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. Both Kei and Ryu look at her.

'Uh…no, it's fine. My parent's don't get home until late, so I'm normally at home, all alone until they get back. My mum's a doctor and my dad's an executive director in a firm for Tokyo.' He tells Natsuki, who nods at him and continues to eat her stew. Kei carries on looking at Ryu, who stares at his stew.

'Ah, I wish I had a nice job like that. Al I have to do is clean the house and water flowers. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a busy job that keeps you on your toes. But due to age, I guess there are a few jobs that I have left to choose from.' She says, eating her soup and smiling at Ryu.

'So you're unemployed?' He asks her, ignoring his soup and looking at Natsuki.

'Yes, but its fine. I have Kei here working weekends at a restaurant just around the corner. But I've told her time and time again that she should quit, it takes up too much of her time. I can't have my little granddaughter trudging of at the weekends to work now, can I?' Natsuki says, laughing as she eats her stew. Ryu looks confused as he looks from Natsuki and Kei

'Granddaughter? But…But it thought that she was you're…you're daughter.' He says, as both Natsuki and Kei stop eating.

'Uh…no. She's my grandmother.' Kei says, after stopping. She looks at Natsuki and then away again. Ryu just carries on looking confused.

'But…where are you're parents?' He asks Kei, not noticing the tension until the words escape his mouth. Kei looks at him and sighs.

'They…I don't live with them. They're in another…country. But they might as well be on a different planet, or better yet, a different dimension.' Kei says, as she stabs bits of beef with her spoon. Natsuki stops eating and looks Kei, before looking at Ryu.

'My daughter, Kei's mother, had to move away, suddenly. And she though it would be best for Kei to live with me. She's living with her husband, and two sons.' She tells the boy, while Kei just stays quiet, wishing that the subject hadn't been brought up. Ryu loses the confused look and goes into sympathetic mode.

'Oh, um, I'm sorry. I didn't know.' He apologizes, wishing that he could just rewind time and take back those words, noticing the look on Kei's face.

'No, you didn't.' Kei said, staring into her soup. Ryu looked at Natsuki, so see her looking at him sympathetically.

'Um…well, I should be going now. Thank you for the meal, Natsuki-san, and I'm, uh, sorry, Kei-kun.' He says, before getting up and grabbing his school bag that he had put in the corner. Natsuki grabs Kei's attention and motions her to get up. She sighs and reluctantly gets up, following Ryu out o the room and to the front door.

'I am, you know, really sorry.' He said, whilst putting his shoes on, and opening the front door. Kei nods at him and sighs.

'No, it's not a problem. It's just me; I get all protective about it when it's mentioned.' She tells him, looking at him as he stands there with the door open.

'Well, I'll see you tomorrow then.' He tells her. She nods at him.

'Yeah, see you tomorrow.' She says back to him. He nods at her and then walks out of the door and into the light, warm afternoon, as the sun was barely visible.

And that night, as Natsuki cleaned away the meal, Kei went to her room and cried, for the first time in 5 years.

**Whew. I don't know it this is the longest chapter I've done for this story, but it sure feels like it. Hope you liked it and please tell me your views! Thanks! XD**


	5. Chapter 5

Free?

**5h chapter, Yay! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but Kei is a character that I made up, and am very proud of her **

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Although the sun was shining oh so clearly in the aqua coloured sky, Kei felt like it was grey. Even though the birds were singing and the hot yet comfortable temperature touched the surroundings, Kei felt like she was in a grey bubble, trapped from the glorious world around her. Even though she was now 15, a whole year older, she felt young, vulnerable, and weak. And she hated it. It was a feeling she had tried to lock up, tried to keep herself from feeling ever again. But she wouldn't be half human if she couldn't feel them. At that moment, she hated herself fro being so useless, for being so weak about what had happened last night. She growled under her breath as she watched the others laugh, smile and enjoy their lives, whilst she angered and pitied herself. She clenched her fists harder and continued watching the other's, as they carried out their simple lives, not worrying of getting angry or even feeling lost. Because that's how she felt. She had, she hated to admit it, cried. 

She had sprung tears because of the conversations he had had. She had hated the feeling of her eyes watering, letting small drops of salted water spill from her eyes, after her throat had seized up and she had a horrible feeling of sickness deep in her stomach. She had stayed in her room all night, only venturing out to use the toilet or get a glass of water. She hadn't been hungry, even though she had barely touched her soup, but when she had woken up that morning her stomach had growled but she had ignored it, she wasn't in the mood to eat. She felt sick, and felt a headache coming on. She looked beyond the school grounds and to the streets that surrounded the tall building, looming over the part of Tokyo that she lived it. As she leant against the black rail that was around the top of the building, she sighed. Today she was older, today was the day, 15 years ago, and she had been born into…well not exactly _this_ world, but sometime 15 years ago, in feudal Japan, where she had once lived, for the first 9 years of her life.

Today was her birthday, a day that most kids cherished, celebrating with their parents and all relatives, throwing parties and having fun. But she didn't want to be like any of them. Today she just wanted to be alone, stay by herself for the entire day, until she could go home and be alone some more. She felt like apart of her was missing, and she had felt that way for 4 years, now 5 years. It was as though she was only half a person, half of herself, and not whole. It didn't help, the fact that she was a lowly _half-breed_, and she clenched her fists even harder as she pictured herself as half a person, the other half missing, a black hole, a missing piece of the puzzle. She hated this feeling, it was something that she felt everyday, something that took over her emotions and made her feel cut off from the rest of the world, something that she didn't mind too much but she wanted to express her feelings, want to be normal for once, she couldn't.

She heard the door leading to the top of the roof open, but she didn't bother turning around. It would only be a teacher, wanting to tell her to get off of the roof, but not continuing the conversation due to Kei's temper, as she asks them why she can't stay up here. No one else ever comes onto the roof, only her and maybe her friends if they were looking for, so she didn't have to worry about being in meaningless conversations with other people, especially when she was in one of her moods. Then she heard footsteps coming over to her, her ears twitched at the sound, and she turned her head slightly to see who it was.

'Hey.' He said, looking at the amazing view from the top of the building. Kei sighed and turned her gaze back to the neighbourhood in front of her.

'Hi.' She said back, not wanting to see him, or anyone. She liked him, don't get her wrong, but she didn't want to talk, not now anyways. She just wanted to…clear her head a little. Tonight was going to be hard, as were the other 4 years she had celebrated her birthday without those people she had so desperately wished could be there, with her, laughing and joking and telling her to makes a wish as she blew out the candles. But that was the one thing that wouldn't change, every year. Her family, and them not being there. She only had her grandmother and her uncle, who rarely comes over because of his new job in another country. That made Kei feel more distant then anything, the fact that she didn't even have a proper family. Seeing as her mom, dad and brothers are in the past, literally.

It was one of those awkward silences, Kei knew. He was uncomfortable around her, she could smell his emotions. Her tail flicked gently through the breezy air, and her ears twitched when she heard people below screaming as they ran around, playing one of those pointless games. She sighed and wondered what he wanted to talk about, hopefully not about last night, otherwise she felt like she might breakdown in front of him, and that was not going to happen.

'Uh…I was looking for you, and…um, one of your friends told me you were up here, so…uh…' He stuttered, still looking at the scene in front, not wanting to look at her in case she showed him any emotion that he didn't want to see. What could she say to him? She didn't want to talk, but for some strange reason, she wanted him near her, by her side nearly, so that she didn't quite as alone as she always felt, without her family there. She nodded at his talk, even though he didn't look at her he stills aw it out of the corner of his eyes.

'And I…uh…wanted to apologize for…last night.' He said quietly, turning to face her. Kei sighed again, wondering how she was going to get out of the conversation without it coming to talk about her parents.

'Don't. You have nothing to apologize for.' She said, trying hard not to let her voice break from thinking of her family, who she could never see again. Ryu head the quiver in Kei's voice and leant nearer to her, looking at her face.

'I do. I made you upset, and I am sorry.' He says, as she looks him in the eye.

'It's okay, I just don't like talking about my parents.' She tells him, breaking the gaze and staring into the distance. Ryu continued staring at her before reaching out and putting his hand over Kei's delicate one that was holding onto the rail.

Kei looked at him, confused at his actions. Ryu gives Kei a slight smile as her eyes meet his and his grip tightens on her hand, and he holds hands with her. Kei's tail had stopped moving and her ears stood upright, confused emotions running through her and she tried to move, to take her hands from his, but she couldn't move. Ryu stroked his thumb across Kei's hand, smoothing her skin and sending tingles up her arm. She wasn't sure if this was what she wanted, her brain going into meltdown, and it wasn't good. She had only just met the guy, who had first seemed like an arrogant pig, but she had come to like him. So why did she feel so against his touch? Against his closeness? She wondered what the hell he was thinking, rubbing her hand with his thumb, getting closer to her.

'Listen, Ryu, I don't think -' she started to say, but he put one of his fingers on her lips, making her stop mid sentence. His touch made her lip tremble, not wanting his finger on her mouth. He was coming getting closer and closer, interrupting her thoughts with his simple touches.

He leant nearer, closing in on her and filling the distance between them before Kei even thought of what he was doing. Then she felt him take his finger off of her lips and move his face closer to his, his hot breath tickling her face. Kei's heart was beating fast in her chest she felt like it was going to break through her ribs, and her ears sent a shiver down her spine. Before she knew what she was doing, she side stepped Ryu as he leant forwards to where her lips had been seconds ago.

'W…What the hell was that all about?' She asked him, her temper flaring up from the bottom of her stomach, filling her lungs and venting her anger out at him, for being so reckless and wanting to…to kiss her! She hardly even knew the guy and all of a sudden, he wanted to plant one on her! Who the hell did he think he was?

'Uh…I'm sorry, but I though it was what you wanted.' He said, looking confused. Kei gave him a bewildered look.

'What I wanted? You don't know what I want.' She told him, giving him one last look before turning and running to the door and down the stairs until she was in her classroom. She slumped on her desk and tried hard not to let the tears fall. Why would he think that she had wanted him to kiss her? She didn't even know him properly and he thought that she wanted to kiss him? How wrong could that guy get? The rest of the school day was in silence for Kei. She avoided Ryu, even walking out of the classroom when he tried to talk to her, just so he could get the message that she didn't want to talk to him, didn't want to be near him. Luckily for her, he didn't try talking to her after she walked out, instead he cast her looks, trying to catch her gaze, but she carried on looking at the front of the board until the last bell rang and she ran out of the room, and out of the building, running until she got home.

'Hey, welcome home Kei!' Her grandmother cried out, smiling broadly as her granddaughter came into the living room. Kei's eyes widened at the sight of the living room. There were a couple of balloons floating on the ceiling, a banner that said Happy Birthday hung across the ceiling above the window, there were snacks of all sorts on the table and there stood her grandmother and her uncle next to a small pile of brightly wrapped presents.

'Hey.' Sota said, hugging his only niece tightly as she walked over to them.

'Hey. I thought I told you I didn't want anything special.' She said, turning to face her grandmother, who just smiled.

'It was either this or a big surprise birthday party with all of your classmates and a clown.' She said, enveloping Kei into a tight hug. Kei smile and nodded, although she wasn't in the mood. Sota gabbed a handful of snacks on the table and talked to Kei about how he was getting on and asking her who she was, whilst Natsuki slipped out of the room and returned a few minutes later holding a large sponge cake with cream, jam and delicate edible roses placed on top, with 15 fiery candle fluttering as the air wafts them. The rich smell of the cake and the fire burns into Kei's nose and she smiles, her ears twitching as she smiled.

'Wow, it looks amazing.' She tells her Nan, who nods in appreciation.

'It took me quite a while to do the decoration, but I think I got it sussed.' She says. Kei smiles and then looks at the cake she held. She felt silly doing it, but she closed her eyes, the feeling of the heat from the 15 candles reached her face as she tried to relax. She heard the noises around her, the ones that she heard everyday, and she also heard her Nan and uncle breathing, and her own. She relaxed and let her senses stop, let the silence surround her as she wished. Although it was childish, something you would only do when you were little, but she felt like it was right, like she had to do it, as though it was a ritual.

_I wish I could see my family again._

The little party didn't last long, just a few laughs, a couple of small talks and a lot of delicious sponge cake. Now Kei helped her grandmother clean up the mess afterwards, Sota apologizing for having to leave because he had to get back for a meeting. So Kei and Natsuki were left with clearing up, but they didn't mind that much.

'Thanks, again. You didn't have to.' Kei tells her grandmother for the third time, as she stuffed the party plates and cups into a black bin bag as well as the popped balloons.

'Stop saying it, I love to throw you little parties, after all, you deserve it.' She said, smiling at Kei who barely returns it. And again with the awkward silence.

'I wished to see them, but I know that wish is the only one that will never come true.' Kei whispered, trying not to let her grandmother hear the sadness sin her voice, but she did. Natsuki stopped cleaning up and put the black bag against the wall, and walking over to the Kei, giving her a reassuring hug.

'I know, and there are no words to describe how much I want to make that wish come true, I'd do anything I could for you to see you mum and dad and your two brothers again, but we both know, in some horrible truth, that it's not going to happen. We both need to move on, even though I know it must be tearing you up inside.' Kei tried hard not to cry at her Nan's words, so she nodded but avoided eye contact. She carried on cleaning up and dumped the full bin bags outside the house, ready to be picked up in the morning. Coming back inside, Kei muttered a goodnight to Natsuki and took her presents and walked up the stairs to her bedroom.

She put her new stationary away, along with her new set of clothes, her new books and some money. She flopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Today's events played through her mind, like her own cinema, minus the comfy chairs and the hot popcorn. She closed her eyes and sighed, wondering why she couldn't be normal. Some days she loved knowing that she was half demon, that she was extra special, but some days, when she's feeling really low or when she gets attacked because of what she was, she thinks about being normal, abut not having dog ears or a dog tail, and not having extra senses in being able to hear sounds that no one else can hear, and smells that no one else can smell. With her eyes closed, her mind travelled back in time, to 5/6 years ago, when she had been told by her parents that she would have to leave them, and live here, in the future, without them.

She remembered coming to this time, when she had been nine years old, when she had tried to sink into a normal life, but not adjusting well. She had thought it torture, to not live with her family, in the feudal era where she had lived with her mum and dad and two strong brothers. She had run into the shrine, a few days after being left in that time by her family, only to have fallen hard onto the bottom of the well, still in that time. She remembered the pure misery and despair after she realised that she couldn't get back, that she was stuck, trapped even. And then she had lived with her Nan up until now, where she was going to have to carry on living until she was old enough to move out, go to college, get her own place, get married and have kids. She was going to have to live the rest of her life here, even though the rest of her life is going to be a long, long time, seeing as she was half demon. She couldn't bear the thought of losing her Nan and her uncle Sota, and having to live hundreds of years later, living on her own, not having any family or any relatives with her. She couldn't stand it.

Something made her sit up straight, her body numb from lying in an awkward position, lying on her side with her right arm tucked under her head and her other draped over her body, and her legs entwined. She looked around her room, to see it was nearly pitch black, the only light coming from her small clock with read 1:29, and the dim lights from outside her window. She sighed and lay back down on her bed, wondering why she had woken up so suddenly, when she felt a wave of numbness pass through her body, like pins and needles. She sat up again and got off of her bed, trying to stop the tingling. But as she stood up, she saw something, a light, a bright light, shining from outside her window. When she looked closer, she saw that the bright light was coming from the old family shrine, the white beam coming out of the cross hatched walls, spreading across the ground. Kei's eyes widened when she saw the light, her heart stopped beating for a second and when it started again, it was beating so fast she felt her pulse in her ears. She gripped the window frame and opened it, the cool breeze whipping her face and hair as she looked closer at the light; it was pure white, illuminating the floor around the shrine. There was no one out at this time, only various cars could be heard as well as noises from the city below the Higurashi grounds.

Kei stood, transfixed on the light, before spinning around on the spot and grabbing her flashlight and slowly opening the door, creeping out onto the landing and making sure that her Nan hadn't woken up. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that if she told her Nan about the light, she would only go into frenzy and try and keep Kei away from the shrine, but Kei wanted to see what it was, maybe it was…No, stop it. She thought, not wanting to get her hopes up. She flicked her flashlight on, and tried not to trip over herself as she rushed down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as she could. She rushed through the hallway and opened the door, trying to keep it as quiet as possible. She closed the door quietly behind her and looked in fascination at the light casting across the ground. Kei moved her flashlight over the ground, making sure there were no animals on the ground. The moon was high up, hanging delicately over the busy metropolis of Tokyo, and the starts that littered the pitch black sky made Kei feel secluded, almost warmed by the beautiful night. But she carried on walking to the shrine, her curiosity evolving into wonder and fascination and hope.

When she reached the shrine, her ears were on red alert and her tail had stopped swishing the air, she even sensed her own worry and curiosity. Placing one hand on the slide door, she breathed in, the light shining through almost blinding her. She swung the door sideways and held a hand to her eyes whilst the other gripped the torch tighter. The intense lit shrine made Kei's eyes water, but the pure white seemed to face, as though it was smoke, being pulled into the well, which was centred in the shrine. The wooden folds that normally kept he well closed were now open, as the white light shone. But it was fading, seeping back into the well, like a mist, being dragged. Kei stepped forwards, her grip on the torch so tight that her knuckles were white. Kei couldn't smell anything; the light wasn't coming from any course she could smell, not a light, a lantern or anything. As the light was slowly pulled into the well, the corners of the shrine that the light had filled were now showing colour as the light was like a mist, like poison being sucked out of a wound. Kei watched in fear and fascination as the light seemed to fade and shrink into the well, as though it was being called back into it. Kei lifted the flashlight as the light was now being pulled into the well. She walked in nearer to the well, her feet reaching the top stair a she still stared in awe at the well.

Emotions were flooding through her as she wondered what the light was for. Was it something coming from the well? Or maybe it was just a flashlight or something that was at the bottom of the well. She knew that the well hadn't opened, because it hadn't opened for over 5 years, why would it today? Kei stepped down the stairs, her legs feeling wobbly but she still carried on. Her ears started to twitch; she sensed something in the air, around the well, something pure, something…good. She reached the bottom of the stairs and looked at the last to the white light as it was being pulled into the well. Kei stood on tip toes and tried to glance into the well from where she stood, but she couldn't see anything. So she stepped nearer, and nearer, but the white light coming from the bottom obscured her vision and she couldn't see anything except from the pure white light. She stepped nearer and nearer, trying to see what was the course of the light, when she stood too close.

She knew something was up because her ears stood upright, the hairs on the back of her head tingled and stood up ad her tail begin flicking cautiously. Then, because of being a teenage girl that had a lot of curiosity, she reached out and put one hands on the well to steady herself as she looked into the depths of the well that she hadn't gone near in over 4 years. Then the white light shone, bright then it had done before, so bright it made her squint. She saw something, something at the bottom of the well, and it was…alive. She gasped, dropping her torch on the ground. She heard the thud, heard the impact it had on the ground, but not before she heard the humming. It was coming from the well, and it was soft, almost unable to hear, but she heard it, like a faint machine humming. Then she fell forwards, don't know why or how, but she fell, face forwards, into the well that seemed to lose the light as she fell in.

Then everything went dark.


	6. Chapter 6

Free?

**Woo! 6****th**** chappie! YAY! I am very sorry that this took so long, very sorry! Please don't hate me, all of my great readers! And I hope that you like the latest instalment of my continuation! XD **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. **

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She knew something big had happened before she even opened her eyes. She could feel it in her bones, in her blood flowing through her whole body and through her heart, which had longed for this moment. But she also knew that she had hurt herself, and pretty badly, as she had landed on her head, which had softened her fall from the top of the well in her family shrine. She felt part of her skull aching, and she could feel the blood trickling down the side of her head, as she lay there, motionless. She could also feel the large amount of pain coming from her ribs area, where, she guessed correctly, a few were heavily bruised. They were the worst of her injuries, other than that it were just scrapes and bruises. As the pain slowly, but agonizingly crept up on her, she let out a groan as she opened her eyes from the blackness and took in the different light in this different place. 

When she opened her eyes, she sensed so many things around her; it was almost hard for her to control her senses. The walls around her were grey and brown, from the stone and mud, with hints of green from the ivy sprawled over the long walls above her. Her nose twitched as strong forces of smells came at her like waves. She smelt the slight breeze above the well, the rich aromas of food, some she recognized and some she didn't. There was also the smell of fresh foliage, as new plants grew from the earth underneath, and there was also the strong smell of blood that nearly overtook everything else. Her ears flicked the air as she heard noises, rustles, the trees as the wind pushed pat them, and the sound of leaves scuttling across the bare ground, and she could even hear faint voices, anxious but excited. She groaned again and lifted her head up, before putting it back down again due to large amount of pain surging through her body making her feel physically sick. When she closed her eyes, images of what had just happened flashed before her in the darkness. The bright light as she walked to the well, the well as she fell forwards and then…and then this. She knew where she was, she wasn't that stupid. She just couldn't believe it. If she didn't feel the pain, she would think that she was dreaming, in her bed, at her house. But she felt it, and she knew that this was real, all of it. Part of her was happy, but the other part of her was upset, almost unwilling to get up and out of the well to check the place out, the place that she hadn't seen in 6 years. This was the place she grew up in, but most importantly, this was where her family was.

Get up. That was what she was thinking, as she lay there, feeling the numbing pain all over her body, but refusing to give up. Her mind was shouting, pleading, arguing with her body, but her body wasn't following her mind. She lifted her head again, to see if she had passed out whilst she had closed her eyes, but it was still dark, and she could tell it was late at night. Her neck ached, but she still managed to barely life her head off of the rough ground. She slowly lifted her arms up and put her hands on the rough dirt so that she could push herself up. She managed to, after several pathetic and failed attempts, but on the next one, she managed to heave herself up. She leant against the hard stone well wall, as she regained her breathing although it was laboured harshly. She looked up from the wall from where she awkwardly sat, and sighed. She could see the brilliant stars, shining brightly in this time, in the feudal era, the place where she had wanted to be for so long, but now she was here, she felt strange, somehow out of place. She wanted to just run as fast as she could to see them, her family, her own flesh and blood, but then one thought crept up on her, one that had made her feel so alone and upset: they had wanted her to leave them. Those harsh, but true, words had been repeated in her head when she remembered her family.

She had tried to remember all of the good times, all the times where she had been so happy to be alive. But then those words, the ones that were in her mind when she slept, when she had nightmares about her parents hating her, looking at her being a half demon and turning their nose in disgust. Was that what they had done when she was born? Was that why her parents treated her differently to her brothers? Maybe they hadn't wanted her, maybe they had wanted to get rid of her all those years ago, but they kept her, out of pity. Kei clenched her fists on that thought. Was that true? Had they hated her for being born a half breed? What did they expect if her mother, who was human, had managed to give birth to 2 full demons, but also a weak half demon. She had heard from some boys from a village that some demon parents would kill a half breed baby, because it would be so weak and pathetic in life. That was what had caused her to beat them to a pulp, begging for her to stop, and her brothers had had to pull her off of them, and when they had asked her what had started it, she lied to them and said that they had wanted to fight with her. Lucky for her, the guys never told her brothers, or anyone else, she made sure of that. But their words had been with her for all these years, making her dwell on her existence: Was it out of pity, or out of real love? Kei groaned yet again and looked back up at the dozens of stars viewable from her point, but she had moved her head too fast, and her vision started to blur. She tried to steady herself, so that she could think of what to do next, but it was too late, her head started aching worse and before she knew it, total darkness had crept on her once again and she slumped unconscious at the bottom of the Bone Eater's well.

* * *

He had felt it, and sensed it, and smelt it and even saw it. He had been awake, sitting on a branch of an old willow tree that perched on a small mound of grass near his village. He had been doing his night watch, doing his regular things that he did, when his ears went numb with hearing such a strange noise. He was alerted, as he sat upright and looked around to see what had caused his ears to be like that, when he had seen it, the bright light shooting up from somewhere deep in the forest. The light illuminated part of the sky, but the light could only be seen by those in 5 miles. He stood up on the think willow branch and watched, intrigued by this sudden intrusion in the middle of the night. He looked down the column of bright light to see where it was coming from, but the trees were blocking his way. He jumped off of the branch, and quickly jumped past the houses that held sleeping people. As he approached the start of the trees, he was entering familiar territory. This forest was named after him; he had been here, remembering all of those precious memories with the one that he had loved. As he ran fast through the forest, he knew exactly where the light was coming from, and it worried him, although attracting him even more. When he reached the area that the light was coming from, hundreds of memories hit him. He remembered when he had first met her, the one that he had fallen for, but had left him for someone else. The light had disappeared and all was silent. He stepped towards the well, his heart beating in his ears and thoughts racing through his mind. When he approached the well, he took a deep breath and peered in. At the bottom of the well there lay a girl, around the age of 15, black hair, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. What made him gasp was the fact that she had black dog ears and a black dog tail. Looking down at the half Inu-demon Kei was the village protector, Inuyasha.

* * *

When she woke up, she was in a different place, with a blanket over her and her head on a soft cushion. The air seemed different as well, light and easy, making her feel comfortable. She could smell herbs and medicines surrounding her, and she heard voices as well, distant at first but gradually getting louder. She looked around her, to find herself in a small hut, mud and straw walls, dirt floor and a thatched roof. Sunlight poured into the room from the open door and the one window that was in the room. She groaned as she lifted her head off of the cushion, and put a hand to her head to find that it had a cotton bandage wrapped around it. She felt sore all over, and her head still ached, but she knew that she had been tended to whilst she had bee unconscious, because she could smell all sorts of herbs and medicines on her. As she looked around, to see if she was alone in the small hut, she saw a shape in the doorway. She looked quickly and was surprised to see a half demon standing there. He had magnificent silver hair that was tied up in a ponytail with a bit of black string. His facial features were strong and his jaw line was too. He wore a red and white robe, with baggy red trousers and hung around his neck were beads that looked beautiful. Kei lifted her hand away from her head and stared at him. 

'Ah, you're awake at last.' He said with a smile, walking in. He came over to where Kei lay and knelt down, looking at her sceptically. 'How are you feeling?'

Kei continued to look at him, looking at his silvery ears that occasionally twitched.

'You had hit your head pretty hard, so one of the villagers patched you up when I brought you here.' He told her, looking at her black ears that were alert.

'You…you found me in the well?' She asked, looking at the guy in front of her. It was hard to tell his age, due to the long silver hair that came to the middle of his back. Inuyasha looked at the girl and nodded, giving her a slight smile.

'Yeah, although I saw something….weird.' He told her, looking at her to see if she would know why she was found unconscious in a well that had shot out a bright light that had been seen for over a few miles.

'Weird?' Kei asked, wondered what he was on about. Then it hit her, he was talking about the bright light she had seen in her family shrine. So…had he seen the light too? Had it shown through the other end of the well too? Inuyasha noticed the look on the girl's face, yeah she was confused, but she knew what he was on about.

'By the way, what's your name?' He asks her, cocking his head to one side.

'I'm Kei, and you are?' She asks him, smiling slightly.

'Inuyasha. I'm this village's protector, and demon slayer.' He told her. Kei nodded assertively and looked around the hut again. It was strange, being in a place like this again. After 9 years, seeing huts made out of mud and straw seemed so strange compared to the tall and metal buildings in modern day Japan.

'I'm intrigued, really.' Inuyasha said to Kei, who looked at him curiously. 'First of all, you appear in a well that connects to the future of Japan, but I only know 2 people that can travel through there and that's myself and someone I was close to. Secondly, only some people can actually come through the well because it's not any normal well. And thirdly, you look a lot like someone I know.' He said, looking at her with curious eyes, trying to think of how to bring up Kagome, maybe it was better not to. Kei look at him questionably before she yawned. Inuyasha laughed as Kei struggled not to show how tired she was.

'I'll leave you to rest a bit more. We'll sort everything out later.' He reassured her. He got up from kneeling beside her and went to walk out.

'Wait.' Kei said, making him stop before he got to the door. He turned and looked at her, wondering what she was going to say. 'Thank you.' Inuyasha smiled at her and nodded his head, before leaving the room. Kei sighed and laid back, closing her eyes and wondered what she was going to do now that she was here, in the place where her family was. For some reason, she didn't want to see them as much as she had when she was in the future with her Nan.

* * *

Could it be her? It couldn't be. But she looked exactly like her. No, she looks different, she has different eyes. But then again, he swears he's seen them before, that same shade of gold that was dark when angry but light up when amused. He couldn't place those eyes, and he couldn't place that face. But he knew, deep down, that she was not the girl that he had hoped she was, or maybe it was because she reminded him of Kagome that he felt himself falling for her.

* * *

She had never had such a good sleep then that one, well seeing as she had slept for a whole day, Kei felt relaxed and comfortable in this era, but then she remembered who was here, and all the terrible thoughts that she had thought of in the well. As she sat up, she realised someone else was in the room with her. It was a woman, a middle aged woman, who smiled when she saw Kei was awake. She had been applying some crushed herbs to some of Kei's cuts and scrapes to make sure they didn't get infected, when she had woken up. Her headache had died down and her ribs didn't hurt as much. Kei felt thankful for the care she had been shown by these strangers. 

'Morning, young miss.' She said, bowing her head at her. Kei smiled and slowly got up from her lying position, taking it easy and not overdoing it.

'Good morning, I'm Kei.' She told the woman, who smiled at her and bowed again.

'I'm Suki, I live here.' She tells Kei. Kei looked at her and then around the room, realising that the only bed in the room was the one that she had slept on. There was a grey blanket stashed in the corner, which, Kei guessed, Suki had slept on.

'Oh god, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…' Kei started to apologize but the woman cut in.

'No, don't apologize dearie. Inuyasha asked me especially to look after you, which I told him I would love to do. I'm pretty handy when it comes to patching people up.' Suki told Kei, who smiled at her.

'I think I'm going to have a look around the village, if that's alright?' Kei said to Suki, who smiled and nodded her head. Kei thanked the woman and exited the hut, taking in the glorious sight before her, which was the sun high in the bright blue cloudless sky, which hung over fields of bright green grass and brown and yellow hut houses. Kei breathed in the sweet air and smiled, all of the glorious smells filling the air, making her nose go haywire as it sorts each one out. She looks around and spots random people working and helping others out. There were 4 women in a nearby field, picking new crops for the village, 3 men down by the water collecting fish in a huge net and others were just around, talking to others. There were children running around after each other, playing and chasing. Kei smiled when she saw them, having a flashback in her mind from when she had been playing with her two brothers. Oh, how she missed them. She wanted to see them, to hug them, to tackle them and laugh all day, but she couldn't, she felt like if she saw them again, after all these years, he would break down in tears. Kei's smile faded and she looked down at the floor.

* * *

Inuyasha had been up since dawn, because he couldn't rest due to the new arrival of that young girl who was stuck in his mind. He grunted as he carried the huge net of the fish that the men of the village had caught. The village was coming along great; the people were working together and getting along great. Dropping the bag down next to some of the women who sat around the cooking area, he told them to share it out into equal portions and give them to each of the families. The women gave Inuyasha their charming smiles, batting their eyelashes at him and hoping that he would sit with them and listen to their droning conversations. But he didn't have time for that; he was going to check up on Kei. He wondered if she was up yet. When he turned around to head to the direction of Suki's house, he spotted Kei standing outside the house, staring at the floor in front of her, obviously in a daze. He crept up on her and stood beside her, her sweet scent filling his nose, the smell of lilies. He watched her expression fall, something in her eyes made Inuyasha's heart flutter. It was the way the sun hit her golden eyes, making them twinkle. After watching her staring at the floor for a few more seconds, he decided he had better bring her back to earth, because he wanted her to meet someone. He moved his head closer to hers and whispered in her ear. 

'Boo.' He said. He grinned as he watched her jump out of her skin, looking around and her eyes widened when she saw Inuyasha.

'Oh, it's you.' She said, looking him up and down. He was amused at her reaction.

'Yeah, it's me. You know, you shouldn't just stop and stand anywhere and daydream, you might be in the way.' He told her, folding his arms across his chest and looking around. Kei sighed and looked into the far distance.

'Sorry, just thinking.' She said, her expression unreadable as she watches children in the field, playing. Inuyasha looks at Kei, then back at the children then back at Kei. He wondered what she was thinking about, curious as to what was going on inside her mind. But he didn't have time to just stand around, so he grabbed Kei by her hand and started to pull her off in the direction of one of small houses.

'Where are we going?' Kei asks him, looking at the people watching her and Inuyasha. She noticed a small bunch of woman who was watching Kei with glares, but Kei ignored them, focused on the house that the other Inu half demon was taking her to.

'You have an appointment.' He said to her. Kei looked at him, confused.

'Who with?' She asks. Inuyasha turns to her and smiles.

'Our village Miko, Kaede.'

* * *

Inuyasha knocked loudly on the door to the large hut that was on a small mound of grass near the village shrine. Kei looked at Inuyasha, then at the hut, confused and curious. After a couple of seconds, the door slowly opened and there stood a young man in a green robe with a white shirt and black baggy trousers. 

'Ah, good morning Inuyasha, and Miss Kei, we've been waiting for you.' The man said greeting them with a smile, then opening the door wider and letting Inuyasha pass through, still holding onto Kei's hand. Kei looked around the hut that she had just entered. It was big, warm and comfortable. A smell of herbs and flowers filled her nose and her ears twitched to the sounds of people talking from beyond one of the walls. Inuyasha dropped Kei's hand, wondering why his heart was beating so fast. Then, a wall slid open and out stepped an old woman, with 3 younger ones behind her. As Kei looked at the old woman, she knew that she must be in her late 60's, maybe even in her 70's. She had grey hair that was tied up in a tight bun, and her facial features were old yet calm, with a black eye patch covering her right eye, and she wore priestess clothes, the bright red and contrasting white making her skin seem so pale and old. When she saw Inuyasha she smiled and bowed her head, then she turned to look at Kei. When she did, Kei felt something….strange. Like she was being examined by the old woman.

'Kaede, this is the girl I told you about. Kei, this is the village's only priestess, Kaede.' Inuyasha introduced. He looked at Kaede and then at Kei. For a moment, it was silent.

'It's nice to meet you, Lady Kaede.' Kei said, remembering to be polite. Kei bowed her head at the old woman, who continued to look at Kei with those aging eyes. Kei felt nervous, like she was a specimen. It was creepy. Kaede gave one last look at Kei, before telling one of the women behind her to make tea for the guests.

'I see what you mean, Inuyasha.' She said calmly, turning to sit on one of the cushions on the floor. Inuyasha smiled and sat down too, looking at Kei to do the same. She copied him, but she was still wondering what the old woman had meant. When one of the women returned with a tray of 3 cups of steaming hot tea, she placed it in the middle of the floor, between Inuyasha, Kei and Kaede. Again with the awkward silence, as Kaede picked up one of the cups and put it to her old wrinkled mouth. She took a sip, and then looked over the cup and at Kei.

'Inuyasha, would you be as kind as to leave me and young Kei. I think some of the villagers need at hand with collecting firewood for tonight.' She said, steadily. Inuyasha looked at Kaede, then at Kei, wondering whether to go or stay. He didn't want to go, but he knew he had to follow Kaede's orders, so he slowly got up, giving Kei one last look, before going out of the hut and helping to collect firewood. After he left, Kaede put down her tea and breathed in.

'Now, tell me child, how on earth did you come back?'

Kei was shocked; she didn't know what to say. It was one of those moments where you're completely caught off guard.

'You…you know?' She asked the old woman, who looked at her and nodded.

'Of course I know, child. I'm a priestess. It's not everyday that a young girl manages to come through a well that has been sealed off for 6 years.' She told Kei, who stared at the old woman. 'Now, what we've got to think about now is what you're going to do. You've created a little problem for yourself, you know.'

'What problem?' Kei asked, curious as to what trouble she had caused. Kaede sighed and looked at the young girl that resembled so much of her mother.

'Don't you remember why your parents had made you leave here?' Kei looked to the floor, ashamed that even a total stranger to her knew one of her deepest secrets that she had kept from her friends when she had lived in the future.

'I apologize for being so harsh, my child, but this situation wasn't supposed to happen. You're mother is very powerful, but I don't think she could stop whatever was after you. And your father as well, he wouldn't have wanted his only daughter to come back, into a world she had been told to leave behind because it was endangering her life.' Kaede said simply, breaking Kei with each and every word. This old woman knew everything and it was bringing Kei back to earth about the whole problem. Why had she come back? Why hadn't she remembered that she was in danger, and that by coming back, she was putting everyone else in danger too? She wanted to hit herself for being so stupid, for forgetting so easily that her parents had wanted her to leave them so that she wouldn't get hurt.

Kaede saw the young girl's expression and sighed again.

'I'm sorry, child. I didn't mean to be too brash, but I'm worried and confused as to how you came back. You're mother asked me to help her seal the well off, so that you could never return. We even used some of the oldest spells so that you could never come back.' She told Kei, who looked down at her lap so that the old woman wouldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. Kei was so angry with herself. All that time in the future, spent away from her family, was because they cared about her too much to not get hurt. She felt so stupid for what she had done, but she remembered the other night, the one where she awoke from her bed to see that beautiful light.

'There was a light, coming from the shrine back home.' She told the woman, still staring at her lap. Kaede looked at the child in confusion.

'A light? What type of light?' She asked the girl. Kei looked up from her lap, the tears slowly going away, and looked into the eyes of the old woman.

'A bright light. I woke up the other night for no reason and then I saw it out my window. I don't know why, but I felt a strong urge to go down to the shrine to check it out. I forgot everything about why I had to leave there, and why I wasn't aloud back. And when I got to the well in the shrine, I felt like I was being pulled in by the light, and then…I fell.' Kei told Kaede, who carried on looking at Kei with confused eyes.

Kaede had thoughts racing through her mind, trying to think up a solution for this problem. How had the girl managed to come back? What was this strange light that Kei had seen? And even more, do her parents know that she's back. Being a priestess, and a strong one at that, she guessed that that answer was a yes. It was only a matter of time before they came to see her, and probably ask her the same questions that she had just asked. The old woman gave Kei one last confused look before sighing.

'Well, I guess there's not much we can do now. I'll do everything in my power to try and think up a solution for this problem, because now you're in great danger.' She tells Kei, looking her straight in the eyes. Kei nodded and looked down at her lap, knowing that she had put herself in danger by coming back. Kaede slowly stood up and walked over to Kei.

'Come with me, I'll show you the village.' She said, with a friendly smile. Kei smiled back weakly and stood up, following the old woman out of the hut and into the bright sunlit village.

Kaede showed Kei to the villagers, who greeted her kindly, smiling at her and bowing their heads at her.

'Uh…Kaede? Why are they bowing their heads at me?' Kei asks the old woman.

'Because, you're a priestess as well as a half demon. Although you might get hardly any respect as a half demon, you've still got priestess blood running through you.' Kaede tells the young girl. Kei nodded, knowing her heritage from both her mother and father. She thought back to when her mother had told her that Kei had both demon powers and priestess powers, and that together, that makes her stronger then a lot of other people, even though she had no clue how to se them powers. She had only been 9 when she had been told to leave, and in those 9 years when she had bee brought up, her mother and father had told her to wait until she was a little older until she could use her demon and priestess powers. So that was why her brothers taught her to fight. Kaede looked at the girl as she was deep in thought. She sighed to herself, wondering what her mother was going to say to her. Kaede, being a woman of many things, knew that Inuyasha had grown some deep feelings for her, somewhere in that heart that he had locked up long ago. Kaede turned to the last thing to show to Kei.

'And this is where my sister lies, her soul now free and at peace.' She told Kei, who came out of her trance and looked at the grave which was covered in irises. Kei looked at the grave and wondered who Kaede's sister might have been.

'She was a priestess, just like me. She was older than me, but was killed, a very long time ago. I suppose you're mother never told you, but she was a reincarnation of my sister.' Kei looked at Kaede, surprised at her words.

'My mother…was a reincarnation of your sister?' She asked. Kaede nodded then turned back to the grave.

'Yes. Your mother was brought through the well and brought here, because she had something precious, that everyone wanted.'

'The Shikon jewel.' Kei whispered. Kaede looked at the girl, wondering how she could have known.

'I heard things from villages that were around my dad's castle.' Kei told the woman, but after she had said them, she wanted to take them back, and she wished that she hadn't said them because that empty feeling came back, stronger. There was an awkward silence between Kaede and Kei, before some noises from the village people. Before Kei turned round, before she looked at what was making the people talk so loudly, start shouting excitedly, Kei knew something big was coming, she felt it. Her senses were tingling and she felt something powerful come towards her direction. She turned in time with the old woman beside her, who knew exactly what it was going to be. When Kei looked around, her heart stopped beating, her breath caught in her throat and her knees felt weak. Flying on a cloud was a tall man with flowing silver hair, full body armour with an icy blue robe over the top. Next to him stood a beautiful woman, who had black hair that was hanging delicately on her shoulders, curling at the ends, and she wore a light blue kimono that made her look even more beautiful. Kei stood, transfixed, as she looked in the eyes of her parents.

**WOO!!! Whatcha think? I loved doing this chapter, so I hope you like reading it! Thanks for reading XD**


	7. Chapter 7

Free?

**WOW! My 7****th**** chapter, and I'm loving this story very much and I hope all you readers love it too XD I've had a thought that I want to have at least one story that has over 100 reviews, and I hope that this story will be the one, either this one of my other fanfic, Suicidal Love! So please help me and review, even if it's one word or a hundred, I'll be very thankful XD Oh, and prepare to sniffle into imaginary tissues for one hell of a reunion!**

**Disclaimer: Insert disclaimer here **

* * *

Would it have been fair on her, at that exact moment in time, for her to vanish, or run away? She knew the answer, and was afraid of the question. She just stared, utterly shocked and confused and so many other emotions running through her that she felt like it was just her, and her parents, stood looking at each other across a large field, only them. But it wasn't, there were villagers surrounding them, whispering excitedly and hushing others. Kei was grateful for Kaede being next to her; otherwise she didn't know what she would have done, maybe run away. Kei knew deep down that she would have had to meet them anytime, anywhere, either prepared or not. This time, it wasn't. She had the itching of a feeling that her parents might know that she had come back, but she had pushed the thought away, hoping to enjoy remembering her past here, before thinking about the bad memories of having to be separated from her family. But now it came flooding back to her, wave after wave of goodbyes and crying and angry thoughts, it was like a war was raging inside Kei, which side should she take?

She just stood there, too afraid or maybe it was something else that was keeping her feet rooted to the floor. She watched as her parents, who she hadn't seen for 6 years, stared back at her. Then, they broke the silence that was awkwardly hanging between them.

'KEI!' Kagome screamed, running forwards and throwing her arms out, hugging her daughter tightly like a small child would with a doll that they didn't want to let go. Kei heard her mother sob on her shoulder, her knees felt weak as her mother held onto her. Kei breathed in her mother's scent, one which overwhelmed everything that she had once smelled. Breathing in the heavy sweet fragrance made Kei's eyes start to water, memories flooding her mind from when she would be hugged by her mother when she had been a little girl, before, well before she had been forced to leave and live with her grandmother in the future. As Kei was hugged by her mum, it was like time was passing slowly. As she held back tears he blinked and then looked over her mother's shoulder. And there stood her dad, a person that could scare of thousands with just one evil glare, but not her. When she had been little, she could get away with nearly anything with her dad. He may look very tough on the outside, but once you get to know what he's really like, he's just like the demon dog that he is: big and soft, loud yet hushed, fierce yet playful. She had wanted to be held by him after she had left them. She had missed cuddling onto the bottom of her dad's leg when she had been little. Looking into his eyes, she saw such emotion that was hid behind a wall that was 100ft high. His golden eyes looked back into hers and she wondered how to look at him. But surprisingly, before she even blinked, he bowed his head very slowly, his long silver hair falling over his shoulders, and when he lifted his head back up, there was a look in his eyes, one that reminded Kei of when she had been scolded by her mum for doing something bad, and when she cried in her room afterwards, her dad would give her one of those looks. Her heart filled with pure joy, tears actually spilling from her eyes, she was so glad: both of her parents were glad to see her.

Even after 5 minutes of looking at both of her parents, it made her eyes water, seeing them again after all these years, it made her remember how much she had missed them. She wondered how her brothers had been doing whilst she had been gone, were they okay? Had they grown up a lot?

'But, I still don't understand how you managed to come back.' Kagome said, for the 6th time, confused. Kaede shook her head at Kagome and sighed.

'I know, Kagome, I don't understand it either. But I think that young Kei coming back is good.' Kagome and Sesshomaru look at her with fierce gazes, both of them knowing that every nerve in their body didn't want to send their daughter off to live somewhere else, in the future, but those circumstances, Kei's life in danger that was all they had thought about.

'I know, I know. There was a lot of trouble and problems when Kei was young, but maybe her coming back that was thought to be impossible, is a good sign.' Kaede told the parents, who looked from the old priestess, to their daughter.

Kagome's eyes were still watering, and Sesshomaru just sat there, next to his mate, staring into the eyes of his daughter, whom he had missed so much he had even thought of making Kagome undo the spell that she and the old priestess had put on the well, so that his daughter could come back. And now, here she was, right in front of him. He remembered 2 days ago, at around mid night when he had been in his study, gazing down at his paperwork.

FLASHBACK TIME!

_He couldn't carry on working, his senses felt like they were on fire. His blood seemed to buzz through his veins, and his mind was racing with thoughts. He couldn't smell any demon around his home, and no evil scents, but it seemed like something was going to happen. He sighed and wondered if he was coming down with something, illnesses always affected his senses like this (P.S I don't know if full demons get ill or anything, but let's just say they do ). He looked back down at the piles of paper on his desk, awaiting his signature and other things. As he read the first few sentences of the first page, he began to think of his only daughter. As he did, he tightened his fist so hard that he started to bleed. He cursed under his breath, wondering to himself why he had to get so emotional. What he had done was for the best, right? So why did he feel like he was the worst parent ever? Was he that bad of a father that his daughter's life had been endangered? Even when she had been born, he hadn't had any anger or hatred towards the fact that he had a half demon child. _

_He may have been hateful towards his brother because of his blood, but it deeply affected him that she was special, she was beautiful and calm and so loving, he wondered why he had ever thought differently because of not begin full demon. Then he thought back to the day when his daughter had gone through the well with her mother, and when his mate had returned, she was alone, and in floods of tears. It made his whole body shudder as he held back the water that threatened to fall from his eyes. His anger rose as he thought of the emotions at that time, of sending his only daughter away because he couldn't protect her, and in one massive swipe of his arm, the paperwork was scattered everywhere, quills and other things were thrown across the room as he reached boiling point. He was on his feet; breathing deeply and his eyes were red. No, he said to himself, calm down. She wouldn't want you to be doing this, getting angry at yourself over what has happened. He just…he wished that he could see her grow up. Now he would only think of her as a 9 year old, he wouldn't be able to see that she looked like at 10, or 12, or 16, 18 or even 100. He took in a deep breath and sat down slowly, and when he was back on the chair, he put his head in his hands and tried to regain control over himself once again._

END FLASHBACK!! WOO!

He looked back into the face of his daughter and smiled, so thankful for this billion to one chance of her managing to come back through a well that had been magically sealed by two very powerful priestesses. All he cared about what that his daughter was back, and she was beautiful and smart, and just that way he remembered her. He held his mate's hand next to him and he turned to her.

'Kagome, I know that there must be many questions that we want to ask Lady Kaede, but I think that our daughter is very tired after such a day, and would like to rest.' He said to his beautiful mate, who looked into his golden eyes and at her daughter. She smiled and nodded, turning to her daughter once again, she wiped a single tear from her eyes.

'Your father's right, Kei. I know that you must still be shocked about coming back to your past, after so many years, and I know you might be worried about what had happened that had made us…send you away, but I promise that me and your father will do everything and anything in out power to stop those who want to hurt you, so you can live peacefully here, with us.' She says, smiling at her daughter who just looked into her lap. It was true; she had been worrying that now that she had found some way to come back here, she was putting everyone in danger just because of someone that thought that she was special. She looked up from her lap and gave her parent's a weak smile.

'I know you would do anything to help others mum, but I don't want to cause too much trouble. I didn't know what that light was, all I did was go to see what it was and then…then I was here and I know that being here is dangerous to all of you because you might get hurt because of me, and I'm just scared that the people I care about will get hurt.' She said, her voice cracking as she tries not to cry. She had been so frightened and scared that just by being here; she was putting other people's lives at risk. Who were the people that had wanted her when she had lived here? Why would they want her so badly? She knew about her being stronger than others because of who she was and who her parents were, but she hadn't really been all that powerful. She remembered once when she was in the future and she had been in a fight with one of the other girls in her class. She had been punched and kicked and been pulled by the hair and ears, and she could throw and good right hook, but she wasn't the best at fighting, she supposed that because she was half demon, she would have all these cool abilities like she had heard of. Even that guy that had found her in the well was half demon and he could jump to great heights and lift enormous weights and has one hell of a sword, whilst she just stood there, looking sad and pathetic as a weak 15 year old girl that had great parents while she was just a weak girl. When she saw the faces of her parents and the priestess Kaede, she felt saddened again.

'Kei, don't you ever think that. Now that your back here, with us, I'm never letting you go again. Those years were torture for us, having to carry on living our lives, whilst you were…gone. I couldn't stand it. If it hadn't been for your dad and brothers, I don't think I could have carried on living.' She told her daughter, who looked surprisingly at her. Kaede gave the family a small smile and nodded to herself.

'Well, I think everything else can wait until tomorrow. I'm sure you want to take your daughter back home with you, and catch up on all of those precious years. And don't worry about the people who were after your daughter, I heard from a few gossiping demons that there had been no talk of Kei since she left, and that that scrawny young guy that you caught at your home is at the other side of the land, somewhere far away and unable to cause harm to your daughter.' Kaede told them, giving them a smile. Kagome grinned at the priestess and hugged her tightly, whilst Sesshomaru stood there looking awkward, but nodded his heading gratitude for the small information. He too, had been worried about what was going to happen now that Kei was back, but he wasn't going to let anybody harm her.

'Mum, dad, I'm sorry but can I stay here?' Her voice didn't sound like her own and the words came out really fast, but both parents heard it. They turned and looked at their daughter. They had just left the room they had been in with Kaede and now they stood outside, the sun falling slowly on the horizon and sweet smells filling the air. Kei hadn't wanted to say it in the room with Kaede, but she felt sick just thinking about returning to the place she once called home. She hadn't lived there, or even set foot there for 6 years, and now suddenly, they want her to come and live with them? She felt dizzy. It was all going to fast for her. When she had come back to this place, a place where she hadn't been in for years, it hadn't really hit her about it being real, and it being all around her, but now it did, and it hit her like a ton of bricks. She looked up into the eyes of her confused and shocked parents, wandering how to tell them how she felt. Kagome narrowed her eyes at her daughter, wondering what was going through her mind after saying those words. At first, she thought that she was only joking, although it wasn't a funny joke, but seeing her daughters face, and the seriousness behind it, she knew that her daughter was speaking from her heart. Sesshomaru looked straight into Kei's eyes, looking deep into her emotions. He had always been able to read his daughter just like a book, she had her emotions in her eyes all the time, so he could just look into them and know how she really felt. After she had said those words, he felt his heart sink lower in his chest, but seeing her emotions in her eyes made him realise how careless him and his mate had been to take over the situation and not ask what Kei wanted. Kei looked form one parent to the other.

'I know you must want me to go with you, and I wish I could, but I feel like if I stepped foot in the house, I'd break down. It must sound stupid, I know that, but I don't think…I don't think I'm ready to live with you again.' As she said those words, she felt her heart breaking into tiny pieces. She wondered how her parents felt about her saying all this, but when she looked at them, she was surprised to find them nodding at her and giving her small smiles.

'It's fine, Kei, really it is. I know you must be feeling so overwhelmed right now, but I promise you that when you're ready to come back, we'll be waiting for you.' She tells her daughter. Sesshomaru looks away from his daughter's eyes and looks at her whole face, giving her a slight smile.

'I don't think it's a good idea to stay here too long, but I know you need some time to think about some things and I think that's best too. And I think that you can start learning some powers out here, now that some of the problems have gone. I'm just glad to know that you're back here, in this time, with us, and that you're safe, that's all we need to know.' He tells her, walking over to her and putting one hand on her head, smoothing her hair and her little dog ears which twitched in appreciation. 'I hope you come back soon.' He tells her, before walking over to his mate, who then walks over to her daughter to say her goodbyes yet again.

Inuyasha had been getting wood for the huge fire that they would be burning throughout the night. He had a big pile of sticks in his arms, as he flew through the trees in a blur of red as he sped up to the village. He wondered if Kei was still there, wandering where he was. He smiled at the thought; maybe he was coming to like her, seeing as he reminded her of someone that had once been so dear to his heart. But as he got nearer and nearer to the village, two powerful scents hit him in the face and he stopped. Those smells, they were familiar. He hadn't smelled them in ages and his nose twitched at the sudden strong force of them both, but he remembered whose they were. And that made his eyes widen and his pace fasten. He got to the village in less than a few seconds, anticipation drumming through his whole body, and confusion and wonder running through him as well. Why would they be here? Of all people and places, why would the people who didn't want to see, be here, in his village? When he came to entering the village out of the forest that surrounded it, he stopped dead in his tracks. There stood the woman that he had once loved years ago, and the demon that she had fallen in love with: Kagome and her mate, which was his brother, Sesshomaru.

'You know that I love you, right?' Kagome said to her daughter, who blinked back tears and nodded with a smile. 'Good, because I will never let you get hurt, and I'm so happy that by some miracle, you've been able to come back.' She tells Kei, flinging her arms around her small daughter, and breathing in her scent. Kei hugged her mother back, loving the feeling of her mother being here, with her, hugging her and holding her in her arms. It hurt, to separate from her parents again, but she felt like she wasn't ready to go back to that place yet. When she pulled away, her mother looked her in the eyes as her's watered.

'Oh god, your brothers are going to be so happy! They hadn't been the same since you had left, and I know that they have missed you every single moment. I'll tell them when I get home, so they'll probably be coming to see you. I'll tell them not to come tonight, because you want to get settled here first.' Kagome says whilst giving her daughter a smile that made Kei hate herself for telling her parents that she wanted to stay here, but deep down, she knew that she would have difficulty stepping foot in the house again.

'Thanks mum.' Kei says. Kagome smiles again, loving her daughter that she hadn't seen for 6 years, calling her mum again; it just felt so…unreal. Kagome gave her daughter another hug before wiping the tears that were threatening to roll down from her eyes, and she smiled at Kei.

'I know you'll be sensible here, so I'll be looking forward to hearing from you.' Then she pauses, and looks her daughter up and down. 'Oh god, it just feels so unreal that your back and that I can hold you again. My little girl, my special little girl…..oh I love you so much.' She said to Kei, who began to blush.

''Mum, its okay, I'll be fine. And…and I'll come and see you soon.' She tells her mother, who smile broadly and nods at her daughter.

'Of course. You remember where we live, right?' She asks her daughter, stroking Kei's hair and rubbing softly at her dog ears.

'I couldn't ever forget.' Kei said with a weak smile. Kagome smiled again and blinked a few times, not wanting to get all emotional and start crying. That was when she felt a presence, someone was watching them, not only was it the villagers, but there was someone familiar, their aura slowly drifting over to Kagome as she looked beyond where her and her daughter stood, and saw the guy whom she had left years ago, Inuyasha.

Sesshomaru had smelt him and sensed him before anyone else, and he didn't know whether to warn his mate and daughter, or leave it be. He decided to do the latter. So he continued to stand there, not saying a word, but watching his mate and daughter hugging and smiling. But watching them, his mind wandered off to why Inuyasha was here, in this village. Hold on, he was remembering something. Wasn't this _his _village, and that forest, over there that was named the Inuyasha forest, right? So that would mean that Inuyasha had already met Kei. Sesshomaru didn't know whether Inuyasha knew Kei was his daughter, but he'd soon find out.

Inuyasha just stood there, looking confused, as he watched the woman that he had once loved, stop hugging Kei and look at him. He saw Sesshomaru standing a few feet away from Kei and Kagome, and very slowly, it started to click. Kei, the girl he had found at the bottom of the Bone Eater's well, was in fact Kagome's daughter, which would make her Sesshomaru's daughter too. Inuyasha's mind was screaming at him, why hadn't he noticed it before? Was he stupid? She looked so much like Kagome, yet he couldn't even put 2 and 2 together and realise that Kei must be Kagome's daughter. Wait a minute, he thought in his head; hadn't he seen Kagome's children? When he had visited Sango and Miroku, all them years ago, hadn't he seen her with Sesshomaru, and her kids? Well, he hadn't seen them properly, but he had seen glimpses of them. The 3 little kids that had been running out the front of the house. He had seen them before entering, and exiting. There had been 2 boys and 1 girl. He could sense that he boys were full demons and that the girl was a half demon, like himself. But he hadn't seen their faces, and he hadn't been clever enough to remember their scent because he knew that he would never see Kagome or Sesshomaru again. Oh how wrong he had been. Because here they stood, in front of him, with their daughter who was now grown up, whom he hadn't even bothered to think who her parents were. He noticed that all 3 of them were staring at him: Kei, Kagome and Sesshomaru.

'Inu...yasha?' Kagome said, confused and shocked at his sudden appearance. Inuyasha stepped forward, looking from Kei to Kagome and Sesshomaru.

'K…Kagome….Sesshomaru?' He said, still shocked at seeing them here, in his village, standing with Kei. He looked at the girl, her golden eyes just like his brothers, and the rest of her like Kagome. Why hadn't he seen it sooner? Now he looked like an idiot.

'Inuyasha, what's the matter?' Kei asked, wondering if he was okay.' He looked at her and shook his head.

'They're…they're your parents?' He asked her, walking nearer. Sesshomaru stepped nearer and gave a slight smile.

'Hello, little brother. I see that you've met my daughter.' He says, putting and arm on Kei's shoulder. Kei looked from Inuyasha to her dad then back at Inuyasha.

'Didn't you know they were my parents?' She asked, confused as to why he hadn't realised. Well, it didn't matter much anyways, right? But apparently it did, as she saw the look on her mother's face.

'What are you doing here, Inuyasha?' Kagome asked, still surprised. Inuyasha gave a weak smile.

'I live here, this is my village, remember?' He said to her and Kagome's eyes widened.

'Are you the one that found Kei?' She asked and Inuyasha nodded, looking at the girl in question. Kei looked at her mum.

'Mum, how do you know Inuyasha?' She asks. Kagome shakes her head and looks at her daughter.

'I…I was in love with him, before I met your father.' She tells Kei, knowing that she'll only find out anyway and she would rather tell her herself. Still, Kei's eyes widened in shock, and she looked at Inuyasha who nodded.

'The one that you said I looked like, that was my mum?' Kei asked him. He looked at her and nodded. Kagome sighed and looked at Inuyasha.

'I'm sorry Inuyasha, for meeting like this. I wanted to see you but things kept coming up.' Kagome said to the half demon who was still wearing the red fire rat robes that he had worn when she had met him. Sesshomaru sighed and looked at his mate.

'Kagome, I think it's time we leave. Kei will be perfectly fine with Inuyasha here. I think she's had enough for one day.' He tells Kagome who nods. Then he turns to Kei. 'Remember, you can come home at anytime.' Kei nods at him and he nods back, as a sign of affection. He turns and gets his flying cloud ready.

Kagome looks at Inuyasha and then at her daughter.

'Kei, I love you very much and I want you to come back home, but only when you're ready. Inuyasha is a good guy, and I'm sure he'll take care of you.' She says, looking over at him as he nods at her. Kagome smiles and gives her daughter one last hug before sniffing and walking over to her mate on the clod.

'Goodbye Kei.' She says, before holding onto Sesshomaru's arm and flying off.

Then came the awkward silence.

**Whoa, long chapter. But very glad that came out good, or at least I think it did XD Oh, and also one more thing, if anyone would like to draw Kei, or any other characters how you think they look now, then please, please draw and send them to me! I would love to see them. I don't care if you a good artist or not, I don't care, I'd just love to see how the readers see my characters. So thanks again and please review! You get virtual cookies if you do! XD**


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